The Return
by Mr. P0P0
Summary: Set slightly before Tenrou Island. What happens if typhoons delay the S-class trials? Training of course. So Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, and an unexpected guest go out training. But what happens when legends return? How will this change the timeline? GajeelxLecy. Will have a poll for who Natsu should be with. I do not own cover image.
1. Prologue

The air was cold and frigid. The mountains that a woman named Ur and her two students, Gray and Leon, were residing were far away from civilization. Currently, Ur's students were facing down a demon named Deliora, who had killed Gray's family and destroyed his town. Gray, who was unable to defeat the demon that haunted his dreams, was laying on his back, propping himself up, looking up at Leon, who was preparing to use an Ice Spell that was known as Iced Shell. Suddenly Ur was slapping Leon, angry that he would even think to attempt to use Iced Shell. Feeling the demon closing in, Ur stood up. She turned her back to her pupils, and started to prepare to use Iced Shell.

"Don't worry Gray." Ur said softly. "I'll erase your nightmares."

As Gray and Leon stood behind their teacher, they started to realize what she was about to do. It was then that they noticed a red glow in the sky. Looking up, they saw the clouds were indeed burning bright red. The two pupils looked to each other, and simultaneously ran forward, grabbing their teacher's wrists.

"What are you two…?" It was then that she started to see the glow too. She allowed her pupils to lead her further back from the demon. After several seconds, Ur turned from the glow, picking up her pupils, and started running. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her while holding two children. After a few minutes, she stopped feeling vibrations in the ground. Wanting to confirm her suspicions, she stopped and turned.

There, in all his fierce glory, stood Deliora, looking at the sky. After several long seconds, he opened his mouth and roared a challenge to the sky. The glowing red light in the sky got brighter and brighter, until suddenly a massive pillar of flames erupted from the sky, engulfing Deliora and some of the surrounding mountains. When the flames had finally died down, the mountains that had been caught in the flames still stood, perfectly unharmed, just gray instead of their usual variety of colors. Even Deliora still stood, also gray instead of white. Ur took a step forward and the ground crumbled away. She looked down and found that only the gray part of the ground had crumbled away.

She leaned down and felt the gray powder, trying to see what it was. After only a few seconds, Ur had deduced that the gray powdery substance was ash. Ur snapped her head up and observed her surroundings with new eyes. The gray was all ash. Incinerated in the pillar of fire and heat that was so intense, it turned even stone to ash, instead of melting it. And yet, for all its heat and fire, she and her pupils felt no heat, nor were they burned, which meant that it was all contained within the borders of the great pillar of fire. Ur stood up now, horrified. She was scared for her pupils lives and was willing to give up her own to save them from Deliora, yet at the last second, a being had come along and burned him to ashes, as well as the mountains in the surrounding area. Ur tried to imagine the amount of magical energy that such a feat would take and she shuddered. The being that had saved them had used more magical energy than necessary, using almost twice as much as the spell must have originally cost, and it did so to save her and her students. She shuddered again, still incapable of processing the raw energy required for the task.

Then, suddenly Ur's world went black. When she opened her eyes, all she could see was fire. Almost immediately, a great and terrible voice spoke out.

"_**Will you repay your debt?"**_

Ur was so dumbfounded that her savior was speaking to her that she didn't speak for several seconds, but eventually she worked up the courage to give an affirmative.

"Yes, I will repay my debt."

"_**Good."**_ The voice said, and Ur's world was filled with light again. She collapsed to the ground, causing her pupils to run to her aid. At first, she smiled at their concern, but soon she frowned, knowing the voice had saved her, asked her to pay her debt, heard her agree, and then left. It was then that she felt something she had not felt before the talk with the being. There was a faint pulling sensation in her head. Compelling her to head south. She knew in that moment it was the debt asking to be paid, so ignoring her pupils protests, she got up and headed south, bringing her pupils with. She stopped after about a hundred feet, feeling a strong wind. When she looked back, she saw the mighty Deliora, locked in his eternal roar of defiance. When the wind reached the ash, it took it along. Ur stayed and watched, waiting to see if it really was true. Sure enough, the "gray" mountains were blown away, along with Deliora, who collapsed after his left leg was carried away with the wind.

(Two weeks later)

Ur and her pupils had been walking for weeks, the pulling sensation getting stronger the closer she got to her destination. It was so strong of a sensation that it kept her awake last night. The group was currently walking in a forest, Ur trying to find her way desperately, knowing and feeling that she was close. Suddenly, she emerged into a clearing that held a cave. In the cave was a tiny burning sphere of fire.

As soon as she laid eyes upon the sphere, it descended to the ground. The flames in the ball started to burn brighter and brighter. Eventually, they began spinning and moving to a single point. When the flames were gone, there sat a seven year old boy. The boy had on a white scaled scarf and very ripped shorts. Soon, he boy started to stir and awaken. The boy sat up, looking confused. He ran out of the cave and into the clearing. The boy seemed to understand that he was intentionally left alone. Ur could not stand to see the boy's sad face, so she approached him.

"What saddens you child?" she asked

"I think my father left me here."

'Maybe my task is to help the boy find his father' Ur thought, so she replied with "Tell me his name and I will do my best to help you find him."

At this, the boy seemed to perk up. "His name is Igneel."

"Igneel? That is an odd name." she murmured, thinking the boy could not hear her. She was surprised when he started yelling

"It's not odd. He is the King of Flames! His name is mighty and powerful!"

When the boy yelled that, she could not help but to think of the final moments of the Land of Ash and its beast. Her curiosity aroused, she asked "Is your father arrogant, or is that what you call him?"

The boy seemed upset at this, and looked as if he was about to start crying. "It's what the other dragons call him! Stupid lady!"

Ur froze. There was no way. Dragons had been extinct for centuries. And yet this boy claims his father was the king of the fire dragons? And that OTHER dragons called him that? Dragon_**s**_? As in multiple? It was not possible. All dragons went extinct hundreds of years ago. And yet, here was this boy, who claimed otherwise. And as she thought back on the Land of Ash, she could only think of one race that could do such a thing. Could a dragon, more specifically, the dragon that had saved her and her pupils, be this boy's father?

But as Ur looked upon the boy and her own pupils, who the boy had just realized were there, she thought it did not matter. The pulling sensation was gone. The boy was the debt. And she thought she had an idea of where to take him. On her travels to find the boy, she had heard of a guild that was becoming popular recently. One of the few guilds that claimed to be a family. It seemed like as good a start as any.

"Boy, what is your name?" she asked kindly

"Huh? My name? It's Natsu."

"Do you know magic, Natsu?"

"Yeah"

"How would you like to go to a place called Fairy Tail?" Ur inquired

"It sounds funny, but I like funny. Let's go!"

Ur, her pupils and the boy all shouted

"FAIRY TAIL, HERE WE COME!"


	2. The Return

In a town called Magnolia, it was a fairly normal day, or as normal as a town can get with a guild like Fairy Tail. The previous day, the master of the guild, a short man by the name of Makarov Dreyar, had announced who the S-class candidates were, telling them that they would have three months to prepare for the trial, due to a series of typhoons that were forming and swinging close to the island. Most of the candidates that were told of their participation in the trial were ecstatic, wanting the time to train, for they were certain that the trail would include many a tough fight. If only they had any idea of what was to come.

The guild was on its second day of celebrating, not really paying attention to all of its inhabitants, and congratulating those that made it into the S-class trial. One of the members, the candidate known as Lucy Heartfilia, was currently talking to another candidate of the trail, known as Cana Alberona, about her troubles. Cana had recently told Lucy about her father, the Ace of Fairy Tail, a man of incredible power named Gildarts. To say that Lucy was surprised would be an understatement, but never the less, Lucy was determined to help her friend win the S-class trials so that she could finally tell her father that she is his daughter. The two of them were immersed in training ideas and strategies, until after about two hours, another of the candidates, known Levy Mcgarden, walked up to the pair.

"Do either of you notice anything strange?" Levy inquired

At her words, the two looked up and wondered what she had meant by her words. Seeing the confused look on their faces, Levy felt compelled to continue.

"It's just that, normally Gajeel would be here by now."

The two girls had indeed noticed that Gajeel was missing, because even with his rough looks and sometimes childish attitude, he was usually an early riser and even semi-professional, always trying to arrive at the guild at just after sunrise. However, both girls also knew that Levy had a crush on Gajeel and they did not want to let this opportunity to tease her pass, even if her concern might be warranted.

"Oh my Levy, planning on trying something?" Cana said

"N-n-no. N-not like you're implying. As you both know, Gajeel is my partner in the trial, and he offered to train me. I was just wondering if he told anyone if he wanted me to meet him somewhere."

At Levy's words, Lucy frowned, again wondering why Gajeel had offered, or to those who heard the "offer", practically forced her to take him as her partner. After a couple of seconds, Lucy pushed those thoughts to the side, focusing instead on replying to Levy, knowing by the look on Cana's face that the poor girl would only get more teasing from her.

"While I can slightly understand your concern, I don't see a need for it. Gajeel is a mage of Fairy Tail after all. It does not seem too urgent that he isn't here at the moment"

Levy slightly blushed, knowing that they had not noticed if that was all that was said in response to her question, and embarrassed at having not been clear enough.

"You are right Lucy, but if that was all, I would not be concerned. My concern lies in the fact that none of our Dragon Slayers are here and it is well past 10 o' clock, even though all of them are usually here by at least seven."

"Ah, so you noticed, did you Levy?"

The three girls jumped slightly at having been snuck up on. They turned as one to face Master Makarov, who had been the one to speak. He sat on the bar about a foot away from them, drinking from his cup, Mirajane behind him, humming as she cleaned the counter. Levy, unable to withstand waiting for an answer, asked

"What do you mean, Master?"

Makarov organized his thoughts as he finished off his beer, something he noted that, with old age, he was having to do far more often and was taking longer. He frowned at this realization and started looking around the guild. Once more his mind drifted to who would replace him. Macao could be a little reckless sometimes, but he had a good heart. Gildarts had heart too, and was more than a little reckless, but he could lead the guild to-

"Master!" Four female voices ripped him from his thoughts. Looking around, Makarov realized that Cana, Levy, and Lucy had been unable to rouse him from his thought and that Mirajane had to join in too, in order to get his attention. Makarov frowned again, realizing that maybe the time for a replacement might be closer than he liked to admit. But at the moment, he had a duty to the girls who were looking at him, hoping for answers.

"Sorry, my mind slipped. It won't happen again. But to answer your question, the Dragon Slayers will not be coming here for a while. They told me that today they are packing and tomorrow they were planning on leaving to go to an area more suitable to train at, for the place they train currently cannot withstand the punishment."

The girls frowned. For two of them, this could ruin their plans. For the other, it meant a broken promise. Yet all were wondering. The Dragon Slayers, especially Natsu and Gajeel, were notorious for having destructive training habits, which meant they had to find a place nearby, in the form of a monstrously large cavern, that could withstand their "training". The cavern had been in use for months, and the guild members often visited, or, in cases like Erza and Gildarts, went there to train as well. The cavern was stable when it was last checked three days ago, leading the girls to believe that, with this new training the Dragon Slayers were planning, the cavern might not be suitable. There could be many reasons as to why the caver would no longer be suitable, and most had the three girls and even Makarov worried. But before the girls could entirely lose themselves to their thoughts, the Master interrupted them.

"Also Levy, Gajeel has informed me that if you want him to keep his promise, you must pack your bags and prepare for two and a half months of training. Meet them at Kardia Cathedral when you are ready."

Levy stood still for several moment before she raced off to her apartment at Fairy Hills, leaving the Master and the other girls alone.

"Master, do you think this is wise?"

"Hmm?" He was roused from his thoughts by Lucy. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just that if the Dragon Slayers don't find the cavern to be suitable for their new training, I'm wondering if Levy will survive."

"First, Levy is a big girl. She can make her own judgments, especially in a situation like this. Second, I am not sure it is your concern. After all, even I can tell that Gajeel and Levy have feelings for each other. I am sure that Gajeel will watch her. Third, DO YOU TAKE ME FOR A FOOL? When Gajeel told me he planned on taking Levy with them, I questioned him until I was satisfied that he had thought of every single possibility that could go wrong. I am certain that she will survive or, if she does not, that Gajeel and Natsu pay the full price of their actions, depending upon the circumstances of her death."

**Meanwhile**

Levy raced out of Fairy Hills, eager to begin her training with the Dragon Slayers. She knew that she could not possibly improve as the Dragon Slayers improved when they trained, for her magic was for different, yet she also knew that even if she did not improve as much as them, Natsu and Gajeel were perfectionists when it came to training, and they would not rest until she had improved by what they deemed a reasonable amount, and that Wendy would be there to keep them from going too far.

As Levy was heading on her way toward the Cathedral with a full backpack and sleeping roll, she spotted Erza heading toward Fairy Hills. This proved to be perfect for Levy, for in her haste to leave, she had forgotten to give the keys to her apartment to someone, as she feared losing them while on the road with the Dragon Slayers. As she neared Erza, she started to slow down so that she could talk to her, peaking Erza's interest.

"What is with the running and the backpack? Are you heading somewhere?" Erza asked

"I'm sorry Erza, I don't have much time. I'm going to train with Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy. I'm on my way to meet them now. I just needed to ask if you could watch after my apartment for me while I'm gone." Levy said, extending a hand that contained her keys.

"Of course. Frankly, I'm offended that you needed to ask. We guild mates watch each other's backs." Erza accepted the keys, adding "Tell Natsu and Gajeel that if you are harmed, they will have to face my punishment."

"Ok. Bye Erza. Tell the others I will miss them." And with that Levy continued on her way, Erza watching her until she disappeared from sight.

"Special training, huh? Looks like I may have to train more than I thought while I prepare for the trial." Erza began to thinks of ways to train while she tightened her hand around Levy's keys.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"WHAT?"

"Gray, calm down. It's not much to get excited over. It just means all of the candidates for the S-class trial will have to train harder." Lucy said, finally spotting Gray's shirt under a table. She bent down and retrieved it, holding it out to Gray.

"Thanks," He grunted "but still, this is serious Lucy. If Flame brain is doing special training with Gajeel and Wendy, it could mean he will push ahead in the trial." He explained

"She's right, Gray" Cana put in "there is not much to worry about in the Natsu pushing ahead aspect. There is, however, a lot of concern in the three of them pushing ahead. After all, Wendy and Gajeel are in the trial too. I can only hope that training Levy will slow down their own training." She said, sighing.

"Well, I suppose if Levy is going too, it can't be that bad for us," Gray admitted, knowing that stopping for Levy would impact even the Dragon Slayers ability to train. "But I can't help but wonder what their training will be like."

"I think we're all wondering that Gray." Mirajane said as she set down an empty tray on the bar. "Let's just hope they come back in one piece."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"I cannot believe it!" Elfman roared as he split a tree.

"I can hardly believe it myself." Evergreen replied, watching as Elfman laid waste to the small trees that surrounded him. "To think that the Dragon Slayers would intentionally slow themselves down by taking that Levy with them."

"A REAL man would have not offered to take a girl into the wilderness without first informing the guild of his intentions. Natsu, you bastard. If you touch her, you will be unforgiven for all of time."

"….Is that what you're upset about, Elfman? Because I'm fairly certain that Natsu doesn't know how to even begin with something like **that**."

"Whatever" Elfman grunted, smashing through his fourth tree. "I still cannot forgive this. His actions are inexcusable."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"**Hmmmmm. Special training, huh Natsu? That seems just like you. Maybe I will join you in your training.**"Said the massive red dragon, as he spread his wings preparing to fly to his son. He stood upon his legs, the black spikes on his back scraping against the roof of the cave he was in. Igneel moved to the mouth of the cave, perching at its edge. His muscles bunched up, preparing to take a leap. The rock under his huge paws shattered under the combined force of his weight and the power behind the push. '**Ahh, the feel of wind catching ones wings. There are some days when I wonder what I would be if I could not feel this magnificent feeling.**' Igneel thought, as he soared higher from his fiery domain of volcanoes and ground that constantly is spurting fire. It was not long before Igneel caught the familiar scents of his friends and fellow dragons, Grandeeney and Metalicana. However, just as he caught sight of them, he heard a roar from behind him. As he turned to face the owner of the roar, a dragon that he was beyond familiar with was approaching him. The scales of midnight black, and electric blue, normally not seen together in nature, was now frightening, even to the King of Flames, who soared above his kingdom, and with his two friends at his back.

Yet even for all the fear Igneel was feeling, anger is what he had more of. He would not, could not back down here, above his land, with his people, the other flame dragons, watching. Every dragon knew of the destruction wrought by this dragon of black and blue. That is why he could not back down. Instead, he roared his challenge to the world, the first and greatest of the fire dragons to fight Acnologia that day.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

(One week later)

"Hurry up, shrimp. We're almost there!"

"I don't understand," an exhausted Levy said "how is it possible that you guys can still be going? And none of you look even slightly tired. Not even you Wendy!"

"Sorry" replied Wendy "but we Dragon Slayers don't get tired easily. This walk is a piece of cake, even for someone like me. Our parents train us too well."

The response just led to Levy groaning. She could not even begin to comprehend how much training it would take to walk the distance they had in only one week, and yet not be tired. It was almost as fast as if they had taken a train. At certain areas, Levy couldn't continue without help, leading to Natsu and Gajeel to take turns carrying her, which embarrassed her to no end.

"Hey, Salamander, why'd you stop?"

Levy looked up from the ground to see that what Gajeel had said was indeed true. Natsu had stopped walking and when Levy circled around him, she could see a shocked look on his face. He kept mumbling half words and stuttering, something Natsu almost never did, even when embarrassed.

"**Ah, so you noticed me, huh Natsu?**"

Levy whipped around, attempting to find the source of the voice, but it was no use, for the forest around them was dense. She could even hear the voice echoing around too, making her unsure of the direction the voice came from, and confusing her until she realized the voice was enhanced by magic, making the echoing to throw them off.

"**Are you going to stand there forever, boy? Continue on the path until you find a forked tree, than take a right off the path and go straight until you find me.**"

"Hey, Salamander, who the hell is that?" Gajeel yelled

"I-i-i-it's I-I-I-Igneel."

That answer caused them all to pause. Aside from the black dragon that had fought Gildarts, no one had seen a dragon for over seven years. Almost immediately Natsu was off running, the rest following a few feet behind. Soon enough, the Dragon Slayers had found the "forked tree". Levy was not so sure it could be called forked. The tree had been forcibly split down the middle. Igneel referring to a tree ripped in half as a "forked tree" suddenly cleared a lot of things in Levy's head about the Dragon Slayers. No doubt this is where they learned how to incorrectly label things. With that mental note, Levy raced after the other Dragon Slayers who were oddly silent. Soon though, Levy could see what appeared to be a large clearing up ahead. With just a few more seconds of running, Levy was in the clearing. It was a half circle was over 3000 feet across, the other side of the clearing had a cliff wall that rose over 2000 feet straight up. But it was what was in the clearing that had her attention.

Three dragons of massive proportions, who were over fifty feet tall when laying down. One was made up of what appeared to be dark, shiny metal and had blunt, round head, the one next to it was slightly smaller, covered in white fur around her head and neck but what appeared to be white bird skin of some type on the rest of her body, with an almost flat, broad skull. The last and largest of the dragons, covered in many impressive scars, had dark red scales covering the majority of his body, with a yellowish color on his lower jaw, the part of his neck that faces the ground, and on the bottom of his tail. Its triangular head has one horn at the end of its snout, with more horns at the back of its head. The red dragon also had six legs, two in the front and four in the back.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

(Natsu Pov)

He could not believe it. Three dragons after seven years of finding nothing. From Gajeel and Wendy's description of their parents, he had no doubt those dragons were them, but they were not the ones that held his attention. His dad, Igneel, was there too. He had more scars than Natsu remembered, but that did not help appease the anger that suddenly sprung up in his chest. Before Natsu knew what he was doing, he ran at Igneel with his fist ablaze, and he hit him square in the jaw, making an almost comforting crack. That was when Natsu felt something he had never felt before. He felt a slight give of his father's scale, than it cracked and shattered, sending Natsu's hand sliding into the next scale, stabbing it into his hand. When Natsu landed again, he looked to his friends, who bore shocked expressions, and held out his hand to Wendy, not trusting his voice to ask her. She slowly walked up to him, holding her hands over his and soon his hand was back to the condition it was in before he hit Igneel.

"**Hahahah. That's quite a punch you got there, Natsu. I'm impressed that you managed to pierce my outer layer of scales.**"

The clearing stood dead silent at Igneel's words. It felt as if, if one were to light a match, the tension would explode. Natsu could hear Levy's feet shuffling, then he heard her swallow, not doubting that the dragons could hear it too, and he knew she was attempting to build her courage to speak.

"Um, what?"

All heads in the clearing turned to Levy. She looked as if she now regretted speaking out. At least, she did, until Igneel addressed her.

"**Where lies your confusion, child?**"

Levy gulped. Never before had she even imagined she would speak to a dragon, and now, she was speaking to a massive one whose smallest tooth was half as tall as her. Now, he was speaking to her, even after Natsu hit him with a punch that would have put Gajeel in the infirmary for over a week, yet he acted as if everything was fine and that such occurrences were common. Again, she built her courage, and when she spoke, she surprised even herself.

"Who are you all? And why can you still speak after that punch, much less act as if it did not happen? And why did you call us here? Why did you go into hiding? Why did you finally decide to come out? Why have your kind faded into legend, when yet you clearly still exist? What did you mean by your outer layer of scales?"

At first, Igneel seemed taken aback by the torrent of questions. Than he cracked a smile, or as close as a dragon can get to a smile. Natsu noted that Levy did not seem to understand it was a smile. He also noted that she still stood before them, even though he was certain she was afraid. He definitely approved of this girl. She held a vast amount of courage to stand before three dragons, even if she was by him, Gajeel, and Wendy.

"**Well girl, to answer your questions, the metal dragon is Metalicana, the Metal Dragon King, and the white dragon is Grandeeney, Queen of the Skies, and I am Igneel, the King of Flames. We dragons are for more durable than you humans. I wanted to. We need to build our strength up. We have faced our greatest foe and came out on top. We allowed ourselves to. And dragons have two layers of scales, the outer, which are dead scales, but still difficult to break. Than under the outer layer is the inner layer, or living layer, which are over five times harder than the outer layer, and can be infused with magic to be even harder, but when they do break, it is much more painful. I believe that answers all of your questions, or are there more?**"

(Levy Pov)

She could hardly believe it. She was standing in the presence of not just three dragons, but three dragons who were each the respected ruler of their elements. She never was raised in a noble family, or by royalty, but from her books, she knew what to do when confronted with rulers. She started to bow, but jumped abruptly when Igneel's massive claw slammed down around her.

"**Do not bow to me, human. I am not like your rulers. I do NOT wish to see people scraping and bowing to me. I need no welcome greetings. Tell me your thoughts and say them true, else I will burn you to ash. The only greetings I need is a fist to the face or the promise of my death. Bare your teeth to me, and you have already earned my respect. Bow your head and earn my wrath.**"

Levy could not help but smile. At last, she knew where Natsu learned to disrespect authority. His father had taught him his ways, which Levy, and Gajeel, and Wendy, judging by the grins on their faces, agreed with. Igneel's personality was passionate and infectious. She has only been around his for a few minutes, yet already she could feel herself changing to match his views. It was amazing how fast she changed around him. Suddenly, the air vibrated and shook. Levy looked around, confused, when it repeated after a few seconds. It took a few seconds, but eventually Levy figured out that it was a giant beast flapping its wings. It was then that a dark gray dragon larger than Metalicana, but smaller than Igneel. This dragon also had many scars crisscrossing its body, which was covered entirely in brutal, thick, spikey scales. The dragon landed what looked like a gentle landing, but when it touched the ground, it cracked and caved in, getting crushed beneath the weight of the dragon and his thick, plated scales. Once the dragon landed, it turned its head and looked as if it were appraising Levy, which made her feel uncomfortable, for she knew not what she did to attract his, for he was unmistakably male, attention.

"**So you have finally arrived, eh Zyaful? What do you think of the girl? Will you be able to train her?"**

Levy was confused. Why was Igneel asking this other dragon to teach her? What could it possibly gain him? Levy had no more time to think, as the dragon named Zyaful answered.

"**If I had enough time, I could teach a squirrel my magic. The real question is can I train her in three months? That, above all else, will be up to her. Let us begin."**

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

(Three months later, at Hargeon's ports)

Master Makarov, Ur, Gildarts, and Erza stood on the pier, waiting to see if the last four of their contestants joined them. They had already delayed three months due to the typhoons, and now they had to delay even longer just to make sure half of their contestants didn't get kicked out before they had a chance to even compete. They could imagine many things that had held up the group, many of them foolish. Eventually though, hours after they were supposed to have left, they saw the group of four approaching them, racing through the streets, knowing that they were late. When the group arrived, Master Makarov was understandably upset, having told Gajeel and Natsu before they left to be back by dawn. It was now close to noon, with the long hours having nothing to distract the master from their tardiness.

"What took so long? You fools are late!"

Natsu, wearing a black cloak, black shorts and an open black vest, the vest and shorts having flame patterns on them, and his ever present scarf, stumbled forward, ready to take full blame.

"Sorry master." He said, in his now deep voice, pulling down the hood of his cloak, revealing his shoulder length salmon hair, and a new scar, going from his right temple to the middle of the right side of his jaw. "We lost track of the days, what with us being out in the wilderness for three months. There was also a lot training that Levy had to undergo, and she needed to get taught as much as possible, if she wanted to be able to properly use her new magic."

With that having been said, Erza, Gildarts, Ur, and the Master all raised an eyebrow.

"You taught her a new form of magic?"

"Me? No, but she was taught a new form. You may even get to see it during the trials, if you're lucky."

And with that being said, Natsu passed the group, going on to the boat to pick a fight with Gray. Gajeel, wearing his usual outfit, plus a cloak like the one Natsu was wearing, walked past the group without a word, retreating to a corner of the ship. Wendy walked up to the group, wearing a black cloak too, but under it, she wore light blue, knee high socks, white shorts that went half way down her thigh, and a tight blue shirt with white sleeves. She said a quick hello, than left to go talk to Natsu. Levy, wearing the same cloak as the others, and knee length gray shorts, with an orange t-shirt, and a black belt that hung loosely around her hips, also attempted to slip past the group, but they had many questions for the girl.

"So, what magic were you taught and who taught you it?"

"I'm sorry master, but I would prefer that to be a surprise."

"I understand, my girl. Hopefully we will get to see this new magic of yours on Tenrou Island. I am rather looking forward to seeing how you have grown."

Behind the master, Gildarts, Ur, and Erza were snickering and laughing, until Ur spoke up.

"I always knew you were perverted, but this is taking it to extremes."

"W-what? No, I didn't mean it like that!"

Suddenly the group felt an enormous amount of bloodlust and anger, mixed with some magical energy. Looking around, the group found Gajeel on the boat, glaring at the Master. "Touch her and you will lose your hand, old man." And just as suddenly as the deadly aura appeared, it disappeared and Gajeel left the railing to go back to his corner of the boat. The group turned back and stared at Levy, who laughed and rubbed the back of her head.

"Sorry. Now that we are dating, he has been really overprotective."

"So you're dating now? Good for you two." Erza said

"Thanks. Oh, I need my keys back now. I don't think I will lose them on the Island."

"Ah, ok. I have them right…. here?" Erza started frantically looking around, unable to find the keys she was entrusted with. "I am sorry, Levy! Please hit me as penance!" "Ah no, Erza that's fine. I think I see the keys over there." While Levy walked away to see if it was indeed her keys, Erza was upset that she would not be hit. "Tch. Why won't anyone hit me when I need punishment?" "Probably because you're too strong, Erza." Levy said as she returned from having successfully found her keys.

"I am not that strong, right Master?" Erza said as she turned to face the Master, only to see him running away towards the boat. "Ur?" Erza turned to Ur, only to see that Ur was gone and there was an ice bridge heading toward Tenrou Island. "Gildarts?" Erza turned only to see a hole in the pier, created with Crash Magic. Erza turned again to see a blinking outline where Levy once was and, in the distance, Gildarts could be seen swimming at an amazing speed alongside the slowly melting ice bridge. Meanwhile, all the contestants on the boat were sweat dropping at seeing the three strongest members of the guild run away from Erza, not wanting to answer her question, or correct her and tell her it was her being scary that was the real reason that no one hit her.

On the boat the Master yelled out "Alright, everyone. Let's get going."

"Yeah" roared the Dragon Slayers, eager to begin the fight.

"Watch it Flame Brain! You're yelling in my ear!"

"You wanna go Popsicle?! Let's go than!"

Ignoring Natsu and Gray going at it, Lucy approached Gajeel.

"Hey, Gajeel? Why don't you and Natsu have motion sickness?"

"During our training, that was something we worked on a lot" Gajeel replied, ignoring Levy behind Lucy baring her new fangs, not pleased that her boyfriend was speaking to a girl who was half-naked, due to the heat, wearing a black bikini and a belt for her keys. After Lucy left, Levy approached Gajeel, intent on him giving her some attention. He laughed at her obvious attempts to gain his attention. "I notice that earlier you told Erza that I was your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, I did. Do you have a problem with it?" she inquired

"Yes, in fact, I do" he said, adding before her feelings could get hurt "I don't want to be your boyfriend. I want to be your mate!"

"Gajeel!" Levy sighed, exasperated. "I'm new to this Dragon Slayer business. I don't even fully know what the term "mate" implies. When we get back from Tenrou Island, I will ask Zyaful for the full meaning of the term. Until then, I don't want to agree to anything."

"I could tell you the meaning of the term."

"You could, but I can't be sure you would tell me the full meaning of it. I know Zyaful will. He has always answered all of my questions, to the exact letter of the question I asked."

"He is very old and very wise." They were silent for several minutes before Gajeel spoke again. "I suppose I can be your boyfriend for a few days."

Levy smiled at Gajeel, causing him to smirk at her happiness. About an hour later, Tenrou Island came into view, causing all of the Dragon Slayers to smile at the potential of a good fight. They then noticed the Master walking to the center of the front of the boat. "Alright you brats! Gather around! Time for the rules."


	3. The beginning of the trials

**I do not own any of the characters**

**Natsu's Age: 17**

**Wendy's Age: was 12, now 16 (will explain)**

**Mirajane's Age: 19**

**Lisanna's Age: 16**

**Erza's Age: 18**

**Cana's Age: 19**

**Levy's Age: 16**

**Gajeel's Age: 18**

**The Dragon Slayers age is only how old they look. Again, I do plan to explain.**

(Last time)

_Levy smiled at Gajeel, causing him to smirk at her happiness. About an hour later, Tenrou Island came into view, causing all of the Dragon Slayers to smile at the potential of a good fight. They then noticed the Master walking to the center of the front of the boat. "Alright you brats! Gather around! Time for the rules."_

_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_

(Makarov Pov)

With some complaints about the heat, complaints about transportation from Wendy who now got easily motion sickness, and a few complaints about being woken up, the contestants for the S-class trail began to gather around the Master. When they were all close enough, the Master held up a map for all to see. It showed four paths leading to Hard Battle's, six paths leading to three Battle's, and one path to Lucky. The Master waited for the contestants to see the map and absorb the info. It was surprisingly Natsu who spoke up first.

"So, according to this map of yours, I think it's safe to assume Erza, Gildarts, Mirajane, and Ur will all be testing us, one of us will get a pass on the fighting, and the others will have to fight each other?"

"Your assumption would be correct, Natsu. At the very least, only one team will pass on, due to no one being able to get past our current S-class wizards and the other fights ending in a draw, in which case deciding our next S-class should be rather simple. However at most, eight teams could pass on."

The Master ended his explanation and watched the faces of his children. He could see that some, namely Cana and Lucy, were hoping to get the Lucky path. Others he could tell were measuring up the other contestants, weighing chances and deciding on strategies. And yet other he worried about. As he looked at his children, he could see two sets of eyes contemplating the Hard Battle's, their eyes fierce and their teeth bared in twin expressions of glee, baring their fangs at the prospect of a good fight.

He cleared his throat, once more gaining the attention of the small crowd. Before he could say his piece however, he noticed a hand emerge from a black cloak and raise to the air.

"Your question, Natsu?"

Natsu, still grinning at his imagined fights, confirmed that the Master's suspicions.

"What path is Gildarts down?"

Makarov frowned. "I don't think I will answer that question, boy." He saw the hand start to rise again and guessed the next sequence of questions. "Nor will I tell you where Erza, Mira, or Ur are." He could see the disappointment in Natsu's eyes, but they burned right back up.

"Well, at least I have a large possibility for a fight."

Makarov's frown deepened. 'This boy will be the death of me', he thought. 'Than again, they have all been training for three months with the intention of beating the others and passing this trial. Maybe I should be concerned about the ones who don't want to fight. That could mean they slacked off, or they lack confidence in themselves and their partner.' His frown deepened further, his thoughts drifting to retirement, knowing that it probably was not going to happen. He sighed, attempting to shove all of his frustrations and worries out in one go.

"Well, I guess you can all start now. GO, BRATS!"

He stood there smirking as they looked around in confusion. Natsu looked as if he took the hint, but he looked at the water with what seemed to be fear. Makarov decided that he would talk to him about it later. He turned around and set off to relax in the captain's quarters, but he was stopped by a voice.

"But Old Man, we're out at sea. We haven't docked yet." Cana cried

He turned and smiled at them, noticing that Natsu and Happy were gone. "So? What seems to be the problem?" And with that, he turned back around, smiling as he heard his children bicker and fight.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Ur looked up from the book she was reading when she heard footsteps echoing in the cave. She felt her heart start to pound and adrenaline rush into her veins, but she fought back the anticipation. After all, she had to go easy on these kids. She was offered a position as one of the Ten Wizard Saints, which she denied, claiming that titles meant nothing to her, though if she was being truthful with herself, it was because the position required paperwork and yearly tests to ensure she was still strong enough to be a Wizard Saint. She was a busy woman. 'How could they even think that i could afford the time it took to do all that paperwork? That would cut into my shopping time!' she thought, as she finished calming her racing heart.

Ur was wondering idly if Gray and his partner were heading her way. 'It has been a long time since I declared him good enough to be a legitimate wizard and stopped teaching him. I want to see how he has grown in that time.' However, as her opponent began to step out of the shadows, she felt her heart begin to race once more. And judging by the grin on his face, he was also beginning to anticipate a good fight.

"I always did want to see if my fire could melt your ice, Ur. I guess I will get the chance to see."

"Don't get too cocky, brat. I haven't turned down the title of Wizard Saint three times for no reason. She said, her smile getting wider when she felt him begin to gather a large amount of magic energy. And with that, the fight began in earnest, Ur completely forgetting that she needed to go easy on him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Mirajane smirked as her brother and his partner walked into the clearing. She had been wanting to test her siblings ever since Lisanna had come back from Edolas. As soon as they spotted her, they began to tremble. Her smirk grew into a full blown demonic smile. Mira may have changed in the last few years, but that did not mean she didn't like seeing people tremble in fear at the sight of her.

"Don't think that because you are my brother means that I will go easy on you." She said, also forgetting that she was supposed to go easy on them. She was about to say something along the lines of 'prepare yourself, brother', but she was cut off before she could speak.

"Aren't you forgetting about ME?" Evergreen shrieked indignantly. As Mirajane looked at the girl, she realized that she had already gotten one of them angry.

'Good. An angry opponent is a careless one. This may be easier than I thought it would be.'

"Whatever." Mira said "Prepare yourselves."

And with that, Mira charged at the duo.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Erza stood waiting upon what appeared to be a ruined pillar. She looked up as the opponents walking towards her stopped in unison. She had expected many groups to confront her, but in none of her imaginings did these two battle her.

"Well now, this looks like it will be a tough fight, huh my babies?"

"You would appear to be right, Bixlow."

Erza smiled, genuinely glad that she would actually get to fight all out and not be yelled at for it.

Erza did not make any attempt to charge her enemies, knowing that Fried could trap her in one of his rune spells if she was not careful. It appeared they were also wary of fighting her, for she could overpower them in a straight up fight. She was glad that they appeared to be actually considering how to best take her down.

Fried and Bixlow worked as a team for years. They knew each other's limits. They could and were formulating a plan of attack without speaking to each other, knowing that speaking would ruin the plan. Erza had decided that enough was enough. She could not give them any more time or she may actually lose the battle. Without so much as a warning, she shot forward, requiping to her Heaven's Wheel Armor.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Gildarts sat in his cave, bored for the moment. He had already decided that he would teach those who chose his path their weaknesses, for the others would no doubt try to teach their competitors a lesson of strength. He could feel the last of the other open paths close, meaning his turn was next. However, he could not feel any magic energy from his competitors on the beach. He deduced that they had probably become trapped on the boat by something the other competitors did. He moved to go sit on a boulder that was nearby, sighing as he went. 'I hate waiting for things to happen.' He thought.

(Ten minutes later)

Gildarts jerked awake at the sudden sound of shoes against stone. He sat up, berating himself for having fallen asleep. As he moved to get off the rock, he saw his opponents walk into the cave. "Well, Well. I would have thought that one of the Dragon Slayers would be my opponents, but it appears my lesson will still apply to you." He said, beginning to step into the light.

He could see the effect his voice alone had on the girls. The two were no doubt hoping and praying that they had heard wrong, but as they turned, he could see the looks on their faces go from horror to true despair. "Hey, come on now. I cannot possibly be that bad." He stated, fully emerging from the shadows.

Lucy and Cana could not have looked more afraid than they did at that moment. 'Oh well' Gildarts thought, preparing to unleash the full force of his magic energy. 'They only look afraid. The lesson I decided on was teaching them true fear so that they could learn their weaknesses. This will be good for them. I hope.'

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Makarov was sitting at Base Camp with the groups of Wendy and Mest, who had beaten Gray and Loki, Gajeel and Levy, who had beaten Lisanna and Juvia. Makarov had set up the Battle paths so that they could move themselves to other paths that were not empty. He was glad he had made such precautions years ago. It was unlikely that all of the paths would be needed for several years to come, but with how many young gifted mages he had in his guild, he was starting to think of adding more paths, which had not been done since the third year of the Second Masters reign.

He frowned when he felt a sudden and massive rise of magic energy in two of the tunnels. 'Gildarts, Ur, I hope you two know what you are doing, giving off levels like that' Makarov thought, frowning more as the magic energy spiked even more, causing the whole island to shake.

Makarov turned his head to the right as he heard the bushes begin to shake. Out came the battered and bruised Elfman and Evergreen.

"So who did you two fight?" Makarov asked, surprised they had made it past an S-class wizard. 'Especially considering the S-class wizards in question are from my guild. Damn brats were notorious for not holding back in their fights, no matter who the opponent'

"We went up against Mira." Elfman replied, sitting down of a foldable chair.

Makarov digested this information and applied it to what he already knew. 'Considering that Erza is still fighting, I would have to say that her opponents are either Fried and Bixlow, or Natsu and Happy, but considering that Ur was still fighting her opponent, she had to be fighting Natsu. That left Fried and Bixlow with Erza. Leaving Gildarts with…. with…. WHY THE HELL IS GILDARTS RELEASING SO MUCH MAGIC ENERGY AGAINST CANA AND LUCY?' Makarov though, panicking. He was relieved when Gildarts finally stopped releasing his magic energy. It was then that he noticed the fight between Natsu and Ur was over as well. 'In most cases, I would be convinced Ur had won, but something tells me that Natsu's training did more than change his look. He seemed pretty confident about fighting the S-class mages, but then again, he has never fought any of them when they were serious. In this case, I am truly unsure of the victor. As much as I hate to say it, I will merely have to wait and see. In either case, if he can still walk I will pass him on to the second round, due to the fact that if Ur had gone easy, like I had told her and the others to do, he would have surely won.' Makarov stopped thinking as he noticed that he had been unable to sense Fried and Bixlow's magic energy for a while. 'Odd that Erza's magic is still raging though. Maybe Fried trapped her in an enchantment. It would technically mean he and Bixlow win if they can make it out of the tunnel before Erza breaks out and stops them.'

Almost as soon as he thought that, he could hear the sounds of frantic running. Fried and Bixlow emerged from the tunnel running at full speed. A few seconds after they emerged, Makarov could hear a loud crash coming from the tunnel they emerged from, followed by an enraged bellow from Erza. 'I truly fear that when we return from the trials, those two will have to face her wrath' Makarov shuddered at the thought. Two minutes later, he could hear the sound of three sets of feet coming from Gildarts' tunnel. As soon as Makarov saw Cana and Lucy, he knew they had lost. The looks on their faces had been enough to show him the utter defeat they suffered.

"Hey, Master, I just wanted to let you know that these two passed my test." Gildarts said, causing Cana and Lucy to whip their heads toward the man. The looks on their faces told the Master that Gildarts had not told them they had passed.

'That man always forgets to tell people important information' Makarov thought, sweat dropping at the fact, knowing that it would probably never change. "I must say that I am surprised, given what I could sense from here. I thought for sure you would have failed them."

"Nah. My test was about learning your weaknesses, not finding strength. I would say these two know at least some of their weaknesses now, meaning they passed my test." Gildarts said, rubbing the back of his head. "Speaking of who passed, where is Natsu?"

Makarov frowned at that. 'It's a good question. Natsu and Ur stopped fighting a few minutes ago. They should have emerged before Cana and Lucy.'

"I'm not sure you can just assume Natsu won Gildarts. After all, his opponent was Ur. She would be difficult for the candidates even if she was going easy. However, against him, I think she went all out."

"You think?" Gildarts questioned.

"Well, I can only assume she went all out, but even I have never seen her get serious in a fight, so I cannot conclude that she did indeed give the fight her all."

"Ah, I see. That is a surprise. I had assumed that at the very least, she had shown you her true power, Master."

"Alas, I have not had the opportunity to fight her in a real battle. In a way, I am glad that is so. I have been feeling my age since before she arrived at the guild. Even if I won, I cannot imagine how long I would be in the infirmary." The Master replied.

"If you want, I could-"Gildarts started to say, stopping when he heard footsteps. "Well, at least now we get to know who won the fight." Gildarts stated.

Ur emerged from her designated cave, alone and battered. "Natsu passes." She stated, walking past the group in the clearing.

"Hey, wait!" Gildarts exclaimed, rushing after Ur. "What happened? Where's Natsu?"

"He is by a river, fishing. You can find him in that direction. Ask him what happened." Ur said, pointing to the east. Gildarts rushed to where she pointed.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Mest was interested in what had happened between Natsu and Ur, but at the moment, he had much more pressing matters.

"I have been meaning to ask you Wendy, what has happened to you?"

Wendy looked up from the plant she was examining.

"What do you mean, Mest? I'm fine."

"That is not what I was asking. When I asked you to be my partner, you looked about twelve years old. Now, you look about four years older. So what happened?"

"Oh, uh, yeah that." Wendy said, reaching up to scratch the back of her head, a habit she picked up from Natsu. "Well, it has to do with dragons and the magic that they know. When dragons teach their children how to use Dragon Slayer Magic, they also teach us to use other bits of magic that they know. One of the magic's they taught all Dragon Slayers is Age Magic and Immortality Magic. With them, we cannot die from old age and can even choose what age our bodies are." Wendy explained.

Mest was thinking rapidly. This was a lot of information he had not been expecting. "So why have you never used the magic before? And how old are you all?"

"Um, well that would be because we didn't remember that we could do that. When our dragons disappeared years ago, they used magic on us to make us forget certain things about our pasts. It came with some side effects, but it has all worked out now."

Mest was not so easily fooled. He knew that, as a person who could use memory magic, it could only be removed once it was known by the person it was used on that they had their memories altered, and even then, they had to know what memories were altered so that they could get them back to how they were. That only left the question of how they had found out that their memories were altered.

"But how has it worked out?" He pressed, trying to get an answer. He could see Wendy's reluctance on the topic. 'Why is she so hesitant to tell me? It's not as if it is extremely important who told them that their memories had been altered. Unless…. unless it was a dragon! That would explain how the person knew the spell and the memories affected. It would also explain her reluctance on the topic. It is extremely unlikely that a dragon is the one that told them, seeing as the only dragon known to still exist is Acnologia, and the rest have not been heard from or seen in hundreds of years, aside from the stories the Dragon Slayers told of them. If they had met any dragon at all and not only survived, but also talked to it, it would be huge news. The Magic Council will want to know. I have to try and get her to talk.' He thought.

"Could it be that perhaps the one who helped work out the problem was a dragon?" Mest probed, only to see Wendy's face tighten up, whether from the thought of him being right or the thought of him teasing her, he did not know. Suddenly, her face softened and she leaned in.

"Do you promise not to tell anyone what I am about to tell you?" Wendy asked

"Yes. I do promise not to tell." Mest replied

"Good. Now, repeat after me."

"What? Why?"

"I have to ensure you will not tell anyone. Relax. There is no magic involved. Only a powerful binding oath." She tried to reassure him.

"That sounds like magic to me." Mest stated, distrusting her.

"Then I said it wrong. The oath will not kill you or anything. In fact, as far as I know, it has never affected anything too much. It merely changes you so that you too want to keep the secret that you swore not to tell. Other than that, nothing happens. No death or bad luck." Wendy said, still trying to reassure Mest.

"I see. Fine than. What do I need to say?"

"Upon the bones of the Earth and upon the Eyes of the Night, I do so solemnly vow to hold this secret to the best of my ability, as if it is mine own to guard. Upon the Blood of the Gods, I solemnly vow to only share this secret to only those who partake in The Oath, if I feel they have pure intentions." Wendy intoned The Oath.

Mest felt a shudder run down his spine. He could feel the power behind the words. It felt as if they were ancient. Wendy was right. There was no magic in the words, but a force still seemed present in the words. As crazy as it sounded, it felt as if the words were alive. But against Mest's better judgment, he decided to repeat the words.

"Upon the bones of the Earth and upon the Eyes of the Night, I do so solemnly vow to hold this secret to the best of my ability, as if it is mine own to guard. Upon the Blood of the Gods, I solemnly vow to only share this secret to only those who partake in The Oath, if I feel they have pure intentions." As Mest finished saying The Oath, he felt another shudder run down his spine. He felt that he would come to regret this decision someday.

"Good. Now follow me. I don't want the others to hear." And saying this, Wendy began to walk towards the end of the clearing opposite the rest. She turned as soon as she got there, seeing Gajeel and Levy staring at her. Mest cleared his throat after a few seconds, eager to learn the secret that Wendy was trying to tell him.

"You were right. It was a dragon that told us of our memory problem."

Mest could hardly contain his excitement. When the Magic Council heard this…. no, that seemed wrong. As much as Mest knew he needed to tell the Council, he could not even bring himself to so much as think of telling them. It felt wrong. Right down to the core of his bones, his whole body and mind rejected the idea of telling them. 'Wow. When Wendy said it was an oath that made me want to keep the secret, she was not kidding.' Mest thought. He was interrupted from further deliberations by Wendy, not having noticed that Mest was distracted for a second.

"Well, actually, it was multiple dragons."

Again, Mest could not believe what he had heard. In less than two minutes, he had gone from not knowing of any dragon aside from Acnologia to hearing about Dragon Slayers meeting multiple living dragons.

"Did you know the dragons?" Mest asked, curious

"Yes and no. One of the dragons was Grandeeney, the dragon that raised me, but the other two of the others I had only heard stories of. Metalicana, the dragon that had raised Gajeel, was exactly as Gajeel had described him, so I recognized him almost immediately. It was Igneel that I had the hardest time identifying. When Natsu had told me of the dragon, I had assumed Igneel was a normal dragon with four legs and was about the size of Grandeeney. But the dragon I saw was a massive red beast that was larger than I could have ever imagined, and he had six legs instead of four, so as to better fight and support his massive body. But the thing that made him the most difficult to identify were the scars."

Mest frowned. He had not been undercover for long, only a few months, including the months that were a part of the delay to the island, but from his understanding, one could not be in the Fairy Tail guildhall for over an hour without being in some sort of brawl, and without hearing about Igneel, the dragon that, until Wendy had told him, Mest had seriously doubted raised Natsu. But in all of the stories, never had Natsu stated Igneel was larger than your average dragon, so much so that he had two extra legs, nor the fact that he was covered in scars.

"Later though, a different dragon showed up, called Zyaful. It took the three months to teach Levy his type of Dragon Slaying Magic. Well, three months for him to teach her enough to use it in a fight. He was not happy that his training was being interrupted."

To this, Mest's eyebrows shot up. He had not known that Levy had been recently taught by a dragon the Dragon Slayer arts. At his expression, Wendy giggled and rubbed the back of her head again.

"I guess we never told you guys that, did we? Then again, I think Natsu and Gajeel wanted to keep it secret."

"Why would they want to keep something like that a secret?" Mest inquired, genuinely curious

"I think they said something about her being a secret weapon or something. They wanted to surprise those who she used her magic against."

"I suppose that makes sense. I'm just surprised that those two came up with something like that. It's not like them to keep secrets to surprise their enemies. Usually they just trust in their strength to take on any challenge presented to them. And do not think I did not notice the fact that you have yet to answer my other question. How old are you all?"

"Well, I don't know the exact year I was born, but Grandeeney found me about 348 years ago."

If Mest was surprised by the knowledge that Levy was a Dragon Slayer, he was now downright stupefied.

"348 YEARS AGO? You're really that old?" Mest blurted out

"Quiet. The others might hear you. But to answer your question, yes, I am that old. But if you think that is old, that is nothing. I'm only a Second Generation Dragon Slayer. Natsu and Gajeel are both First Generations. They never did tell me their true age, but Gajeel told me that he had participated in two Dragon King Festivals, with Natsu telling me he had participated in three."

Mest was now confused. He had never heard that Dragon Slayers came in different generations, nor had he heard of the Dragon King Festival. Wendy, seeing his confusion, decided to guess at the source of it.

"The Dragon King Festival happens every four hundred years. It is a tournament of sorts. There are two types of dragons. There are dragons that believe humans have a bright future and should be given a chance to achieve their full potential. Then come the other type of dragons, who believe that the future belongs only to them, and that humans should be wiped out. Every time the Dragon King Festival comes around, the two types of dragons gather. When they get to the meeting point, they open a hole to a different dimension where they can fight to their hearts content. Once they reach that point of the Festival, the two groups of dragons fight amongst themselves, the pro-human group having Dragon Slayers participate as well. When the dust settles, both sides stop when they are down to ten fighters each. Those who remain on both sides wait a full month for all to heal from their injuries. After the month is over, the two sides fight. When the last dragon or human remains standing, the side they were fighting for is declared the winner, allowing them to rule over humans however they want, without fear that the other side will interfere with their actions. The group that wins gets to rule until a winner emerges from the other group at a later festival."

Mest openly gaped at Wendy. He had no idea that the dragons had fought for control over humans for who knows how long. The Council probably didn't even know that, that had been going on.

"But how has the Council never found out about this?" Mest inquired, making an effort to stay quiet.

"How do you know that the Council does not know about the festival?" Wendy asked, her eyes suddenly guarded.

"I just figured that if the Council had known, they would have told us. After all, we have a right to know that there are beings out there fighting over who gets to lord over us like we are nothing but cattle."

Wendy's eyes softened a little. "I suppose that makes sense. But I'm not sure that they don't know about the festival. I mean, look at all they have done to us. They have threatened us time and again with disbanding us, have arrested our members to save themselves, and if they could, they would no doubt put a spy into our ranks to try and learn our secrets."

Mest looked down, feeling guilty at some of what Wendy had said, while contemplating others. 'If the Council did know about this festival, would they tell anyone? They could be hiding it to save their skins or to prevent a panic. But that is only if they know. After all, the festival does only occur every four hundred years. It is possible that they have no clue.' It was then that Mest registered ALL of what she had said.

"Wait, Gajeel is over eight hundred years old?"

Wendy rolled her eyes. "Technically he is over twelve hundred years old. Natsu is over sixteen hundred years old."

Mest's eyes almost burst from his head. He was having difficulty grasping that amount of time. He even began to feel a little light headed.

"But you said they had participated in three festivals at most."

"Just because Gajeel has been in two festivals and Natsu has been in three does not mean that they did not refuse to participate in other Dragon King Festivals. Than you also have to take into consideration that dragons usually train their slayers for decades before they allow them to fight others. And to participate in the Dragon King Festival, dragons absolutely will not allow Dragon Slayers to participate without at least a century of training. It just leads to senseless dying of the Dragon Slayers."

Mest assumed that made sense. Dragon Slayers were strong, but he still had many question. "But how can Dragon Slayers participate in this festival? I mean, Natsu and Gajeel are strong and all, but how can they stand up to a dragon? And why haven't the anti-human dragons killed the humans yet, if they hate us so much?

"Dragon Slayers can participate in the festival because the festival is the only time they can use their full power. With magic strong enough to kill dragons, it would be dangerous for us to wander around unchecked, so the dragons sealed away ninety percent of our power to keep us from accidentally killing other humans."

Mest was really starting to feel light headed now. Natsu and Gajeel were so strong already. 'How could that possibly only be ten percent of their total power?' but he still had one last question that Wendy had yet to answer, and he could tell that she had hoped he had forgotten.

"But how have the dragons yet to wipe out humans if they dislike us so?"

Wendy sighed. Mest was beginning to wonder if he should have asked. "Humans are still around because the anti-human dragons have not been able to defeat the pro-human dragons and us Dragon Slayers."

"Wendy!" Mest exclaimed. "If that was all, you would not be so reluctant to answer my question. What are you not telling me?"

Wendy looked as if Mest had kicked her. He wanted to know the answer to his question, yet at the same time, Wendy's reluctance scared him. During the fight between them and Gray and Loki, she had shown absolutely no fear or worry, yet here she almost looked terrified.

"The reason for my reluctance is because Igneel may not be participating in the next festival."

"No offense, but I fail to see why that should scare you so much. And don't try to tell me you aren't scared! I can see it in your eyes."

"Fine. It frightens us all because Igneel is mostly the reason that we have won all of the Dragon King Festivals so far. Igneel is possibly the strongest dragon to have ever existed, and yet he is also old. He is the only one of his kind left, the last having died off over two hundred thousand years ago."

"His kind?" Mest asked, now confused.

"Yes, his kind. Like all sentient species, dragons too have legends and myths. Igneel himself is one of those myths. When the world was still young, it gave birth to two races. One was the race of dragons, the other race being gods. In the beginning, only five dragons and five gods existed. The dragons and gods represented five elements, those being chaos, earth, fire, water, and wind. These dragons and gods worked together, believing that if they nurtured what had birthed them, it would give them gifts. Eventually, the gods and dragons had children among their respected races, creating mixed breeds, which in turn created new elements. But these children of the originals never forgot them. The gods named their ancestors The Fathers of All, while dragons called their ancestors The Draco Kin. Igneel is the last remaining of the Draco Kin. And he feels that, as the last of his kin, he should finally be allowed to stop fighting. He does not plan on dying anytime soon, but he feels it is best if he takes a break from this war. But the rest of us, the pro-human dragons and the Dragon Slayers, are unsure if we can win without his help. He plans to only rest through two or three Dragon King Festivals, and then he plans on entering them again, but one is enough for humans to finally run out of luck."

Mest was having trouble standing now. His head was pulsing and felt as if it would burst. 'How does one react to finding out that their entire species might be whipped out in about a decade? I guess there really is nothing to do. Even if Etherion could kill dragons, it takes time to recharge. We would be lucky to kill two dragons before the others destroy it.'

"Mest, maybe you should lie down."

Mest looked up to find Levy looking at him with concern, Gajeel behind her, looking indifferent. Mest considered Levy's words.

"Yes, laying down seems to be a good idea right about now."

And with that, Mest promptly passed out from shock.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Natsu sat cross legged, eyes closed, hands resting palm up on his knees. He listened to the sound of the nearby river as Happy tried to catch fish. He was currently exuding his magic energy in an attempt to increase his overall level. He probably shouldn't be doing it, given that it cost magic energy to keep the meditation going and he was in the middle of the S-class trials, but he was bored. He had tried to fish, but Happy was so hungry that when he had finally caught a fish, he jumped at it before Natsu could bring it over land. After a brief struggle, Happy emerged from the water empty handed, crying over the fish that had gotten away. Now Natsu was punishing him for his reckless act by making him catch his own fish. Just as Natsu began to consider trying to train Levy, he heard footsteps from behind him. Focusing on the magic aura of the person, he came to the conclusion that it was Gildarts that was approaching. When Gildarts finally spotted them, he stopped and leaned against one of the trees he had just emerged from. Natsu could tell from Gildarts' aura that he was uncertain. Natsu decided to give him time to order his thoughts. Rushing Gildarts would only lead to him rambling on about things that did not make sense.

It was over half an hour later that Natsu stirred from his meditation at the sound of Gildarts clearing his throat. He kept his eyes closed, wondering not for the first time what Gildarts wanted to know.

"I had been told that you were over here fishing, kid. Guess that was wrong."

Natsu snorted. He could not help it. Of all of the ways that he could have started the conversation, this one was so…. Gildarts. That was the only way to describe it. He knew the man had trouble doing things such as talking. They both shared that trait. Neither of them knew how to start a serious conversation, so they always had some stupid beginning that had nothing to do with the topic that they had come to talk about. He had missed that about Gildarts. They both also shared in the fact that neither of them knew how to raise a child. Natsu snorted again at the memory of Gildarts attempting to give him 'the talk' when he was thirteen. Gildarts had been worried about how he and Lisanna were going and decided that he needed to sit them down and start that awkward conversation. They had both let him sweat and stutter and worry over how to proceed with the conversation while they desperately tried to hold in their laughter. Lisanna because as soon as she had a single male friend at the guild, her sister had shrieked at her all the necessary details. Natsu because Igneel had told him when he was a little kid. They had finally broken down and laughed after half an hour. Even if Gildarts did get his revenge on them, it was still so totally worth it.

Natsu was taken from his memories by Gildarts, who was clearing his throat again.

"Glad to see one of us will be enjoying this, kid." Gildarts grumbled. And with that, he went and sat down to the right of Natsu.

"Kid, I have to ask, how did you beat Ur?"

"I melted her ice." Natsu responded, knowing the answer would irritate Gildarts

"That's not what I meant and you know it. Before you left to train, you could barely match up to Erza's level. Three months later and you manage to beat Ur in a fight. What happened in those three months to get you so much stronger?" Gildarts asked, finally turning his head to look Natsu in the eyes. Natsu turned his head, also looking the other man in the eyes.

After several seconds, Natsu looked back to the river and responded. "I met Igneel again."

Natsu heard Gildarts' sharp intake of breath. They were silent for several more seconds, until Gildarts said,

"Tell me what happened. All of it."

Natsu hesitated for only a few seconds until he began his tale. He included everything, including the dreams he had been having before he was selected as an S-class contestant that lasted until he had met Igneel. The dreams of fire and lava had unnerved him. He also included his thoughts and emotions that he had felt at the time. Gildarts chuckled at some parts, such as when Natsu punched Igneel in the jaw. Natsu left out some parts of the story, like the reunion that he and Igneel had when the others were asleep. He paused once in his story because Happy had finally managed to catch a fish. Natsu resumed his story after he had put the parts a human could eat over a fire. He was sure that Gildarts knew he was keeping some parts from him, but the man did not push him. He was grateful for the respect that Gildarts showed his privacy. When Natsu finished his story, the two of them sat there for several minutes, thinking.

"Well, brat, we should probably head back. Happy's fish is done and the others are probably waiting on you so that they can begin the second trial."

Natsu nodded, standing up. He stretched when he was standing, enjoying the feeling of his joints popping. He could hear Gildarts doing the same from about a foot away. Happy scooped up what was left of the fish, planning on eating it on the way to the others. Natsu looked around for his bag for a minute before he remembered he had left it at the camp, with the others. He accepted the fishing pole from Happy, who did not want to carry it, and with that, Happy, Natsu, and Gildarts headed back to the camp, not knowing the others were already angry at them for holding up the trial.


	4. The Problem

**I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters**

**Thanks to all those who review. I appreciate it very much. **

(Last time)

_Natsu nodded, standing up. He stretched when he was standing, enjoying the feeling of his joints popping. He could hear Gildarts doing the same from about a foot away. Happy scooped up what was left of the fish, planning on eating it on the way to the others. Natsu looked around for his bag for a minute before he remembered he had left it at the camp, with the others. He accepted the fishing pole from Happy, who did not want to carry it, and with that, Happy, Natsu, and Gildarts headed back to the camp, not knowing the others were already angry at them for holding up the trial_.

Gajeel sat upon a rock, waiting with the others for Natsu and Gildarts to come back to the clearing. He and Levy were not as upset as the others at them for holding up the trial. After all, it did give the two of them some time together. He was enjoying sitting next to Levy, holding hands with her while she leaned against his right shoulder. 'Wonder if Natsu has anyone in mind for a mate? After all, it's not good for dragons or Dragon Slayers to go too long without a one. It helps keep us balanced and someone to keep us in check.' Gajeel soon left those thoughts behind as he felt his stomach growl. He growled himself a little when he heard Levy giggle.

"Even when with me, during an S-class trial, all you can do is get hungry. I'm beginning to wonder if I need to learn to cook if we continue to date."

Gajeel scowled. He did not like being made fun of, even if it was Levy. "First off, shrimp, the hunger comes with using Dragon Slayer Magic. You will get hungry too when you start to use it like Natsu and I do. Second, I still don't like the fact that we are only dating. I hate it. I want to be with you in a more permanent way."

Levy sighed, pushing off of his shoulder. Immediately he wished she would go back. He missed her warmth against him. 'Not that I will ever admit that to anyone. I would never hear the end of it if I did.'

"Gajeel, I thought we went over this already. I want to ask Zyaful some questions before I agree to be your mate. After all, we may not be a good match. Zyaful and Metalicana both can't stand each other. I don't want to agree to be your mate if that is all that is in store for us."

Gajeel chuckled, causing Levy to get angry at him and punch him in the arm. Even after seeing her train for three months to be a Dragon Slayer, he kind of forgot that she could hit harder now. As Gajeel began to rub his shoulder, Levy decided to question him about his chuckle.

"What exactly is so funny about that, Gajeel Redfox? It is a serious concern." She demanded, a scowl on her face.

"I was laughing because you seem to think that their dislike for each other lies in the fact that they are different elements. Their problem with each other is the fact that in the past, the two of them fought over a mate." Gajeel explained.

"Oh" Levy said. "Well, I guess that makes sense. So who got her?"

"Ha! The best part of the story. Neither of them. They were both so busy fighting over her that they didn't notice a lighting dragon had shown up and won her. The idiots!"

"I guess that is kind of funny. It explains the sheer hatred and competitiveness that they have with each other." Levy said, sweat dropping. Gajeel began to feel a hope burn in his chest, until Levy put it out. "I still want to wait until I have asked Zyaful my questions."

Gajeel grumbled. 'Stupid shrimp. Always the knowledge horde. Why couldn't she make just one decision without thinking of all the pros and cons of every situation? And she always has to know every bit that she can before she makes any decision.' Gajeel then heard footsteps coming from the east. From the sudden stiffness in Levy's body, she could hear them too, although while he could easily hear them, she was straining to catch the faint noises. 'Not sure if that is from her being female or if it is from the fact that she has had very little training. It could be both.'

Gajeel began to get up, walking to the tent the others had set up. He could hear Levy scramble after him. He smirked, loving the fact that at the current moment she was afraid to stray too far from him. He remembered the warning Zyaful had given her about getting too far from the other Dragon Slayers while he allowed her to stop her training to attend the trial. Gajeel was going to have fun keeping the shrimp on her toes. If she was going to make him wait for an answer, she was going to have to suffer too.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Being on the eastern side of the camp, Wendy had heard Natsu and Gildarts footsteps before the others. As soon as she heard Natsu's approach, she began to feel relieved. She was not sure why, but whenever he was out of her sight, she always worried. She knew it was illogical to worry about him, seeing as how he had been in three Dragon King Festivals, but he did always manage to find some sort of trouble.

Wendy was wrenched from her musings when she heard Mest begin to groan. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He then tried to get out of the cot he was in, but she put a hand on his chest and pushed him down. She could tell he was surprised at her strength. She loved to see that look on people's faces. It was another bad habit that she picked up from Natsu.

"If you get up too fast, you will go right back down." Wendy stated, having already seen the signs that Mest was still tired and dizzy.

"I am a grown man Wendy, I don't need you to take care of me, thought I do appreciate the concern."

"It's ok Mest. We are team members and guild members. That's what I'm here for." Wendy was going to continue, but she heard the sound of a frying pan hitting someone. She turned her head to see Natsu crouched, holding his head, while Erza stood over him with a frying pan that was now sporting the Dragons Slayers face imprinted on it. Gildarts stood about two feet from Natsu, pointing at him and laughing. At least, he was laughing until Erza started hitting him too. Soon, he was crouched next to Natsu, but instead of nursing one bump on his head, he was nursing three.

After he recovered though, he walked up to the Master and talked for less than a minute. When they were done talking, Gildarts turned back around and gestured to Gray, Juvia, and Ur. They all then began to walk in the direction of the boat. 'I guess they all plan on leaving now, especially since they probably won't be needed here for the rest of the trials. Especially Gray. It would only hurt his pride to stay, knowing that his rival, Natsu, was continuing on, while he had failed. I can't blame him either. He doesn't know that Natsu has gotten his old level of power back.'

Just as the departing group reached the edge of the clearing, the Master started walking to the center of it. Everyone stopped what they were doing, all turning to watch the old man. He did not so much as spare a glance at them until he was at the center. He unnecessarily cleared his throat before he began to talk.

"For those who are still in the trial, I will now begin to explain the second part of the trial. Somewhere on this island is the grave of the first master of Fairy Tail. You all are charged with finding it. The first team to find it wins. I will be waiting at the grave for you." During his speech, he was slowly getting closer to the edge of the clearing they were in. As he got to the edge and started to disappear into the forest, he said, "You may now begin." And with that, Elfman and Evergreen, as well as Fried and Bixlow, charged off into the woods. Wendy frowned as Mest attempted to get up. She pushed him back down.

"There is no need for you to get up. You still need your rest."

Mest looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "But we're in the middle of the trial. We have to find the grave or we lose."

"Wrong." Wendy replied. "We don't have to find anything."

It was then that Mest began to look around. He noticed that Natsu and Happy, along with Gajeel and Levy, were still in the clearing with them. "Why are you all still here? Are you all crazy? We should be out searching!"

Wendy looked back to see that the others, excluding Happy, were all chuckling at Mest's words. Wendy sighed, knowing she would have to explain, so as to not upset her partner further. "Mest, we're Dragon Slayers-"

"I know that!" Mest interrupted. "That doesn't mean you can just know where the grave is!"

"If you would let me finish, you would know that in a way, we can." Upon seeing the confused look on Mest's face, Wendy decided to pick up where she was interrupted. "We're Dragon Slayers. And dragons are predatory animals. With their large size, they have to eat meat. And all predatory animals have ways of finding their prey. With most animals, it happens with the sense of smell superior to what humans have, and indeed dragons, and by extension, we Dragon Slayers, have a superior sense of smell, as well as hearing and sight. But dragons are magical beasts. They have other ways of tracking their prey. All we have to do is sit here and wait for the Master to finish walking to the grave and then we can go and follow his trail. If Elfman was smart, he would have come to the same conclusion, seeing as he can transform into animal forms that have the ability to track."

"That is a very smart plan."

Wendy looked over to see Mira speaking, with Lisanna and Erza in the background nodding and muttering agreements. Mira continued, saying

"I really wish Elfman had been smart enough to think of that. But I am not sure your plan will work. The Master knows that you three Dragon Slayers have a superior sense of smell and there are plenty of rivers on this island. The Master is sure to have crossed at least one river by the time he gets to the grave."

Wendy was slightly confused at hearing the "you three Dragon Slayers" part, until she looked over to Gajeel and Levy to see them grinning. 'So Levy's magic remains a secret still. I wonder how long they can keep that up.'

When Wendy refocused herself back onto the conversation, she decided to address what Mira had said. "Normally, that would be a problem. But as I have just explained to Mest, dragons and Dragon Slayers have other methods of tracking prey. Methods that involve magic." Before Wendy could continue, she noticed Happy circling down, wondering when he had left, and flying lower until he was next to Natsu's ear. When he was there, he put his hands up and whispered into his ear. From the frowns on Gajeel and Levy's faces, they couldn't hear what Happy was telling Natsu either. Wendy was surprised when Natsu suddenly stood up and stormed off into the woods. She was unable to see his face, due to his hood being up, but the aura he was emanating promised injury and maybe even death.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Natsu looked up as Happy began to get closer to him. He was listening to Wendy's explanation about how they planned to continue the trial, but when he realized that Happy was trying to speak to him, he pushed one side of his hood back, allowing Happy to get closer to his ear.

"Natsu, while I was flying around, I noticed a strange man on the island, to the north. He looked about your age, with short, spiky black hair. He was wearing a black tunic with a white sheet wrapped around himself. Should we tell the Master?"

Natsu was stunned. He had not heard of a man who dressed like that except… 'No, it cannot be. But I have to check, just in case it really is Zeref.'

Natsu stood abruptly, facing north, and started walking. He whispered "Not yet. Show me this man first." And with that, he began to walk, Happy flying just ahead of him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

The rest of those in the clearing stared in shock at the place where Natsu disappeared. Almost all were frowning at the fact that Natsu had abruptly left, but one was frowning for a whole different reason. He had heard what Happy had said to Natsu. 'It almost sound like Zeref. But it can't be. We hunted him down and killed him. No man could have survived what we Dragon Slayer did to him. But if it truly is Zeref, and things get ugly, Natsu will need my help.'

His mind made up, Gajeel stood and moved to go after Natsu. He stopped when he heard Levy following him. "Levy, stay here."

He heard Levy stop, but before he could take a step, Levy said, "But Zyaful told me to stick by you until the trial ended."

Gajeel could hear the hurt in her voice. He shook his head, hating that he couldn't explain to her the severity of the potential threat. "He told you to stick by the side of a Dragon Slayer, not just by my side. Stay with Wendy until I come back."

And with that, Gajeel continued into the forest, thinking 'If I come back.'

Behind him he could hear Levy sniffle, unable to keep the hurt inside. He hated to do it, but she would learn sooner or later why he had not let her come. Either he would tell her the second they had time alone, or she would find his bloody corpse, having fallen beside Natsu.

'That girl. She thinks that because Zyaful trained her for three months that she can just go with me to any place. Even if she did make extraordinary progress during her training, doing in three months what took most Dragon Slayers years to learn, she still had at least a year and a half left until she is at the point where she can fight without one of us there to make sure she doesn't go too far or get too hurt. But this situation is too dangerous. When Natsu and I gathered the other Dragon Slayers to hunt down Zeref, we didn't even consider taking along any who were not cleared to participate in the Dragon King Festival. And even with most having trained a hundred years with their dragons, some of us still died. She will hate me for leaving her, and she will hate me more later when I tell her why I left her, but eventually she will understand.'

His thoughts having finally settled, Gajeel focused at the task on hand. He surged forward, cursing himself when he realized just how far ahead Natsu was. It took Gajeel a few minutes, but when he finally caught up to Natsu he settled his stride to match. They walked quietly for several minutes, with Happy leading them, but eventually Gajeel could not stay his words.

"We should probably tell the old man, at the very least" he stated

"We will, if it proves to actually be Zeref." Natsu replied

"What if we can't tell him? You know, because we're dead."

"I doubt he will kill Happy. He never has dealt with small things. Happy will tell them."

Gajeel sighed. "I guess that is the best we can do against Zeref."

Several seconds passed before Natsu replied, "If it is Zeref."

Before he could reply to Natsu's words, Happy intervened.

"There he is."

That was all it took to get Gajeel to snap his head to where Happy was pointing. They were all quiet for several moments.

"Fuck."

That simple word from Natsu was more than enough for Gajeel. He had not seen much when they hunted Zeref. He had been on the other side of the mountain range. But Natsu was more than familiar with Zeref. Gajeel did not know much, but he did know that at one point, the two had been best friends. He also knew that it had been Natsu's group that had found Zeref during the hunt. Gajeel could not help it. He began to tremble. He had not fought Zeref, but he had seen the corpses of those who had. Natsu was lucky to get away with only the scar on his neck, even if it had been a life threatening injury at the moment.

"Happy, go tell the Master that Zeref is-"

"No, Happy."

Gajeel whirled on Natsu, ready to punch him in the face. "But you said-"

"I know what I said. Happy will tell the Master that Zeref is here, but first, I need him to go find the boat that Gildarts and Ur are on. We will need their help evacuating the island, and maybe even hold off Zeref if he attacks the others." Natsu explained.

Gajeel thought about it for a moment before he conceded the point. "Alright, fine. You heard him, cat. Now go! Find the ship, alert them, and then go tell the Master."

"Aye" and with that, Happy flew off, angling toward the ocean.

Gajeel turned back to Zeref and prepared to enter the clearing, but was stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Natsu looking at him.

"I think I should go alone. Before you interrupt, he was my friend at one point. He may stay his hand for me. It's worth a shot."

And before Gajeel could protest, Natsu stepped forth, calling Zeref's name.


	5. A look into the past

_(Last time)_

_And before Gajeel could protest, Natsu stepped forth, calling Zeref's name._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Zeref!"

'It could not be. But that voice. It could only be. Then again, Dragon Slayers are resilient and tough. It would be nice to see an old friend again.' Thinking these thoughts, Zeref turned around. His ears had not deceive him. It was indeed Natsu who had called to him.

They both stood in the clearing, facing each other. It was well over ten minutes before Zeref finally spoke. "Been too long, Natsu. The world is too harsh to travel without friends."

"Friends? How can you still possibly consider me a friend after all that has happened? After your betrayal toward us? After us hunting you down? After what the dragons forced onto you as a sentence for your crimes?"

"All that is in the past, Natsu. I have made peace with my life. I have gotten used to this 'sleeping' form of mine. It took me awhile, but I have found ways to cope. It is the immortality that I cannot stand. To force immortality onto one when they have no clue what it means. To see almost all of the friends I had and my family age and die. Now, even their tombstones are dust. For this accursed immortality, I cannot forgive the dragons. I do not know how you Dragon Slayers stand to constantly see those around you wither. Once upon a time, I considered a year a long stretch of time. Now, decades pass and it feels as if I have only blinked. I cannot stand it. My only hope is the promise you made me. I have now learned the value of a human life. Now I beg of you, please kill me. I want nothing more than to die."

Natsu stared at Zeref for several moments before he replied. "I can't. I am not strong enough, even with my full power, to kill you by myself. Not yet."

Zeref contemplated this. But he did not feel anger. Not after all the years he had been living. He knew that anger did nothing to serve any purpose, especially not now. After all, the promise did not mention a time limit.

"I see. If you do not mind, may I ask why I have upheld my end of the bargain, but you have yet to make any progress?"

"There were complications. Almost as soon as I made that promise, the dragons decided to leave, and when they did, they cast a spell to affect memory. It also affected other aspects of us Dragon Slayers, but to say the least, it screwed us. The anti-human dragons have been preparing, especially since Igneel announced that he would not participate in the next few Dragon King Festivals, but only the pro-human dragons have been preparing. With the majority of the strong dragons on the anti-human side, the pro-human dragons may well have not prepared, since it was us Dragon Slayers that turned the tides. They are not nearly strong enough to win without our help. Maybe they could put it in stalemate, but the rules of the festival are clear: No being can leave the festival grounds until a victor has been decided. Because all of the First Generation and most of the Second Generation have been stuck in the bubbles of magic gone wrong, we have only about eight to ten years to prepare for the festival, while the dragons have had hundreds of years. It is due to this magic gone awry that I have not been gaining power."

Zeref mulled over his words. After a few minutes, he said, "It sounds as if the situation is rather dire. Maybe I didn't need to try to eliminate humans after all. But if I am not mistaken, the Second Generation, due to this mistake, will not be able to participate in this Dragon King Festival."

"You would be correct on both assumptions."

"That must be rather harsh. I know you First Generations had been hoping for a reprieve from the festivals. To know that your only hope at such a reprieve, the Second Generation, is not ready to so much as even participate in the fight must be crushing. And this new Fourth Generation does not even know that dragons exist. You all must hate your current situation."

Zeref could see the anger flash across Natsu's face. 'Just because I am not angry at him does not mean I can't rub some things in his face. He didn't seem to like the fact that I so obviously avoided the Third Generation.' Zeref decided to continue to put bad memories into Natsu's head.

"Speaking of all these generations, how is the Third Generation doing? Are any left alive, or did you First Generations hunt them down like you hunted me?" If what Natsu had showed earlier was anger, this was rage.

"We have killed them all!" Natsu spat

"Really? You're absolutely sure that none of them remain? Not even one? After all, I doubt the anti-human dragons would just let you slaughter the generation that they had raised."

Judging by the look on Natsu's face, this was not the first time he had heard the question.

"All known members have been hunted and killed."

"Known? Natsu, you and I both know it is not the known that should be feared, but rather the unknown." Natsu scowled. Oh how Zeref was enjoying this. 'How far exactly can I push him before he cracks? I bet he has kept a tight rein on his emotions after what happened last time. The Bastard Dragon Prince incident. Oh how I will never forget that side of Natsu. I bet there are still dragons wary of him, fearing a relapse of Dragneel.'

"And do not think I didn't notice your avoidance of admitting that the Third Generation were indeed Dragon Slayers."

"THEY ARE NOT!" Natsu roared. "If you had actually been there! If you had actually seen those abominations! Calling them _human_ was a stretch after what the anti-human dragons did to them. They were not and still aren't true Dragon Slayers."

"You lot can call them The Shattered all you want, the world still knows them as the Third Generation of-" Zeref gasped, feeling a creeping sensation clawing its way up his spine. Before he could warn Natsu, black magic spewed out from his body, killing all that it touched. Or, at least, it tried to. Natsu stood his ground, shifting his stance to one resembling that of a man standing against a strong wind. Zeref noticed that in the midst of the magic, Natsu held on to his scarf as if it was his lifeline. 'Maybe it is. If I am not mistaken, those are dragon scales. He must be putting his magic energy into the scarf to use it as if it were a layer of living scales on a dragon. By putting energy into it, it creates a barrier of sorts around him, protecting him from powerful magic.' Than Zeref noticed the scarf was starting to turn black. 'It would seem even artificial living scales cannot withstand my magic for long.'

When the black waves finally stopped, Zeref noted that only about a fourth of the scarf had turned black. 'Four chances to survive my magic. Maybe I was wrong in accusing him of making no effort towards killing me.'

Natsu had resumed his former position. He stared at Zeref across the clearing for several minutes before saying, "I take it that, that is the discharge."

"Oh, so you know of the discharge, do you? I'm impressed."

Natsu frowned. "Don't be. Whenever magic is sealed in humans, it still charges in them. Eventually, the energy would have built up to a point where the container, in this case the person, could not survive the level of energy in them. They would, for lack of better word, explode, leveling whole cities. And that's only normal humans. If you, who can hold astounding amounts of energy, were to explode, it could destroy whole continents. To avoid this explosion of the containers, laws were written by dragons into magic itself. No being can seal magic in a container that keeps gathering energy without putting some form of discharge to prevent an explosion. It's basic magic."

"Right. I don't know how I keep forgetting that you have been studying magic for dozens of centuries. But yes, that is my discharge. And speaking of it, you should probably leave. It always happens at least three times in a row."

"So, if what you said is true, you have learned the value of a human life. Taking that in to account, your discharge must be why you are on this island. You must have assumed it was unclaimed."

"Correct again." Zeref said. Natsu merely grunted. He began to walk back to where Gajeel stood in the trees. When he reached the edge, he stopped.

"I will arrange for you to stay on this island, or, if the Master is not ok with that, for you to move to an island that is truly unclaimed." And with that, he disappeared into the trees.

"Thanks, old friend." Zeref said, sitting down cross legged, waiting for the next discharge to strike.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"How could they possibly do this? I mean, I understand Happy and Gildarts not waking me up and telling me, but to think that even Carla would leave me back in the guild. They all knew I wanted to be here."

To say the very least, Pantherlily was not happy with the current situation. He had accidentally overslept and no one had even attempted to wake him. After 'persuading' some members of the guild to tell him where Tenrou Island was, he was even angrier that no one in the guild seemed to even have any sort of clue where the island was. When he finally got a general direction in the form of a pointing finger of a person who had seen them sail off, he immediately flew after them. It was after about an hour of searching that he noticed a ship with the Fairy Tail logo on the sheets, heading back to the ports of Hargeon.

'No, they can't possibly be done with the trials already, can they?' panicking about missing the entire S-class trial, he looked closer at the ship. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw only four people on the boat. 'Two of them are the examiners, but the others are Gray and Juvia. I wonder if they lost. If so, I guess Loke went back to Lucy and Lisanna decided to stay and help.' As he was thinking, Pantherlily was also steadily angling down toward the ship.

It took several minutes, due to the distance, but eventually Pantherlily landed on the boat. As the members on the boat looked upon him, they could see something was not entirely right. Gildarts decided to be the one to approach Pantherlily.

"Hey, uh, is everything-"Gildarts was cut off by swift paw to the face

"You fool! Did you forget that you were supposed to wake me before you went to the island?"

As Gildarts stood there, rubbing his face, he had a look of concentration on his face. After several moments, he slammed the bottom of his right fist into the palm of his left hand. "Oh yeah. Well, see, I didn't forget. I just asked Gajeel to wake you instead."

The boat was quiet as they all processed this. Eventually though, Ur spoke up

"How did you ask Gajeel to do it if he wasn't even at the guild before we left?"

The boat was silent once more, this time awaiting Gildarts' response. After several second, it became blatantly obvious that, due to the look on Gildarts' face, he did not know. This left all of the boats occupants confused, most pondering who he asked, if he did indeed ask someone, to wake Pantherlily, while Gildarts was trying to remember if the event had actually happened. They all stood around awkwardly, waiting for someone to break the tension. This was done by a Happy who was landing on the railing of the boat.

"Gildarts! Ur! There's a problem on the island. You're needed back there now."

Seeing that Gildarts was still focused on his false memory, Ur took charge in interrogating Happy. "What happened?"

"There is some strange man on the island." This was enough to snap Gildarts out of his focus. He was now intently paying attention to Happy.

"I fail to see why the Master thought this important enough to bring us back. Even if they want the ship to transport him, they can still detain him for a few hours before we return." Ur said, now slightly confused by the urgency in Happy's voice.

"It wasn't the Master that sent me. It was Natsu and Gajeel. I don't know who the man is, but I think I heard the repeating the name Zeref."

At that, the boat occupants froze, as most did when the name was uttered.

Pantherlily was the only one not affected by the name. He looked about, confused by the reaction. "Who is this Zeref, and why would he be on the island?"

Ur recovered, answering Lily. "Zeref was a dark mage who lived a long time ago. He is considered the worst dark mage to have ever existed. As to why he is on the island, he can't be. He died four hundred years ago."

"Yeah, that's right." Gray said, backing up his former teacher. But one person had believed that maybe what Happy said was true.

Gildarts stood, still having yet to move since the name was said. He looked to be rapidly thinking. After several second, he began to move. Pantherlily's gaze followed Gildarts as he made his way to the magic consol. He saw Gildarts tap the board carefully, which confused Pantherlily, until he remembered how Gildarts was with his magic. Eventually though, he finished typing and the boat began to turn.

"What's going on? Are we headed back to the island?" asked a confused Gray

"Quiet!"

They all paused at the unusually violent outburst from Gildarts. From what Pantherlily knew of the man, this type of reaction had never happened. But as Pantherlily looked at the man in question, he could see a lot of strain and maybe even some fear on his face. Ur stepped forward, looking as if she was going to question the situation, but Gildarts cut her off.

"I will ask Natsu to explain to you later, Ur." The tone of his voice brokered no argument.

As Lily was about to turn away, he thought he could hear Gildarts mutter, "If there is a later for us."

Lily turned back, about to question the man to see if he had actually said that, but he noticed something in the sky. "It looks as if we are not the only ones heading to Tenrou Island. At the confused gazes he received, he pointed to the sky, where a ship could be seen flying.

"You can't just assume they are going to Tenrou Island because they are heading that direction, Lily." Gildarts said. But there was not one soul on the boat that truly believed in those words. Not with their current situation. 'First, a report of a sighting of the most powerful dark mage to ever exist, now flying ships heading toward Tenrou. It is too much of a coincidence to actually be one.' Lily though, mentally preparing himself for battle.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

(Half an hour later)

Natsu pushed aside a tree branch, making his way back into the clearing to see the others look at him and Gajeel. He was slightly unnerved by their intense staring. He couldn't figure out why they were so intent at staring. At least, until Wendy spoke up.

"Natsu, what happened to your scarf?"

Natsu looked down at the scarf in question. He had forgotten that his scarf had started to change color. He was stilled amazed at the fact that Zeref had managed to turn even a portion of his scarf black. He could not remember any other time it had happened, aside from the two times Zeref had done it, the other time having happened four hundred years previously.

"I will explain it later. For now, do you know where the Master is?"

"I think I do." Levy said, having moved back to Gajeel's side. "I will lead you to where I think the grave is."

Natsu thought about the situation for several seconds. 'It would be best for us to go out and gather the others, but that would take too long. I don't think Zeref is a true threat to us, but I can't shake the feeling that we are currently experiencing the calm before the storm.' He looked up to the sky. 'Why do I feel so uneasy? There is no reason to be. I have no doubt that Happy found Gildarts and Ur and they are returning now. With the Master here, as well as Erza and Mira, we could handle most things. Not to mention the fact that if things get too hairy, I could always remove my seal. It would piss off Igneel, but Fairy Tail is my priority at the moment. And yet… I can't shake this feeling.'

Shaking his head, Natsu decided to respond, but before he could, an explosion was heard. Natsu and the others spun to face the sound. As best he could tell, none of the others ran off in that direction, but that meant little when they were wandering around, searching the island. Natsu cursed and whirled around. "Tell me where the Master is! I need to speak to him now." His feeling of unease was agitating him and he was beginning to lose his cool.

Levy looked suspicious. "No. You just want to win the trial by yourself. I won't help you." Before Natsu could respond, Gajeel intervened.

"Levy, we will be going with him. Now hurry and tell him."

Levy looked momentarily surprised by what Gajeel had said, but quickly recovered. Natsu cursed again. He could tell that his uneasiness was starting to rub off on the others.

"The Master is on the path that Gajeel and I took. It was hidden by magic so that we would not be able to find it prematurely. I felt him stop and then he continued down a path that was hidden behind a boulder enchanted to look like the rest of the wall."

Natsu nodded. Now that he had a destination in mind, he could finally shove aside the pesky feeling of his. He turned and indicated that Gajeel should lead, motioning to Wendy and Mest to follow. As Natsu turned back to follow Gajeel, he could not help but think, 'I only hope this is a feeling. Whatever it is and for whatever reason I am feeling it, I hope you all good luck.'

As Natsu and the others passed the mouth of the cave, his thoughts returned to the explosion. 'I have a feeling we will need all the luck we can get.'

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**Thanks to brawlbankai for pointing out a mistake I had not noticed.**


	6. The trap and the payback

**I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters.**

**Thanks to all those who review. I appreciate it very much**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

_(Last time)_

_As Natsu and the others passed the mouth of the cave, his thoughts returned to the explosion. 'I have a feeling we will need all the luck we can get.'_

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Fried stood up, dusting off his coat as he did so. He glared at the man who had caused the explosion. "Who are you, and why are you here?"

The mysterious man looked at him and then at Bixlow. He had a contemplative look on his face. As he was thinking, Freed took the time to observe his enemy. He had confetti-like brown hair and, a green shirt with tribal motifs and dark green leather shoulder pads, with brown sleeves and pants. Freed's inspection was halted when the man looked back at him.

"My name is Azuma. I am here to bring an end to Fairy Tail." And with that, one of Bickslow's dolls blew up. Bixlow looked at where the doll used to be.

"What the hell happened?"

While Bixlow was busy worrying over his destroyed doll, Freed noticed Azuma was stepping toward them. "I hope the two of you put up a good fight. I would hate for all the stories about your guild to be lies."

Freed grabbed his sword, preparing to charge, while Bickslow arranged his remaining dolls into line formation.

"You'll pay for destroying one of my babies, bastard. Prepare to die!"

Bickslow then had his dolls start shooting at the man. Freed took this time to analyze the situation. The man had destroyed one of Bickslow's dolls, but he had no clue how he had done it. Without even a basic understanding of how a person's magic worked, he could not begin to set up an enchantment to trap them. 'Bickslow and I need to get him to show more of his magic so that I can understand it better. If I can get so much as a gist of how it works, I can trap him and nullity it.'

With these thoughts, Freed set to work slashing at the man who had dodged Bickslow's dolls and had landed near him. Azuma dodged his attacks but had not realized that Bickslow's dolls had moved behind him. When they were finally in position, they blasted away at him, raising a cloud of dust and shattered rock.

Bickslow sneered at the dust. "That ought to teach him not to mess with my babies."

Freed was not so sure however. The man had destroyed one of Bickslow's dolls in an instant, and had also claimed he was here to destroy Fairy Tail. It could have been a major case of overconfidence, but to happen to such a degree was unheard of. There were stories of whole guilds losing to Fairy Tail's might, yet this man thought to end it alone? 'No, there has to be a reason for his confidence. Maybe he planted a bomb, or came here with his guild. No sane man would come here and attack us alone without a plan or backup. Not if he wanted our destruction.' Freed noticed that Bickslow was starting to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

Bickslow turned and stared at Freed. The look on his face was annoying Freed. He knew Bickslow long enough to know it. It was the look he gave people he thought stupid. "What do you mean? The guy's done for."

"I wouldn't be so sure. He came here and was confident. I highly doubt he's dead already. And even if he is, we don't know how he got here or if he was the only one that got here. At the very least, even if he is dead, we need to find and tell the Master about this."

"It would seem one of you is stupid and the other is smart."

Freed whipped around to face the voice coming from the dust cloud, which was finally starting to settle. The shape of a man was clearly visible. When the dust was finally settled, Freed was shocked at what he saw. He expected heavy injuries on the man, but it seems all Bickslow's dolls managed to achieve was tearing off the back of his shirt and leaving slight burns on the man's back. The man acted as if he didn't even notice he was injured. 'Either this man doesn't actually feel the pain, and he isn't as injured as he appears, or he is used to high amounts of pain. No matter the reason, both spell bad news for us. He can either take our hits and not be injured or cannot feel it, both ways leaving him free to use his magic and his body unrestricted by his pain receptors. This fight could get hairy.'

Freed noticed another of Bickslow's dolls blow up, but this time he noticed the man raise his hand and point it in the direction of the doll. 'It's not much, but to restrict his magic, any little bit helps. I think I can create an enchantment that disables magic if it requires movement.' And with that, he set about thinking up the necessary words and gauging the amount of energy it would require for the enchantment. When he was certain it would work, Freed cast the enchantment.

The man stopped and looked at the runes around him. "What are these? I have never seen this type of magic before."

"Like I would tell you, idiot. All you need to know is it helps to restrict your magic"

Azuma looked as if he was contemplating this for several seconds. He then raised his arm and nothing happened for several seconds. He lowered his arm. He scratched his head before saying, "So you will not fight? Instead all you will do is trap me in here?"

"Yeah. That's kind of the point. If you can't leave or use magic, you are no threat. So you are going to stay in there until I say otherwise."

Azuma looked extremely disappointed. "With your guilds reputation, I was hoping for a good fight. Instead, all I got was a great trap. You are not the foes I was hoping for." And with those words, he sat on the ground.

Freed stared at the man. 'Is this seriously it? He's just giving up? Actually, come to think of it, that's most people's reactions to a situation like this. I think that means I know too many people who are like Natsu and Gajeel.'

Freed heard Bickslow call his name. He turned to see what he wanted. "Come on, let's go. We need to find the Master. If not to get you to S-class, than to tell him about this lunatic."

Freed agreed. He followed Bickslow who was walking toward the woods. As he was about to enter the trees, he turned back to look at Azuma. 'Why is he just sitting there so calmly? He is on an enemy island, trapped in an enchantment, in a clearing in the woods. In his position, any one of the animals on this island could kill him. Yet he is still calm. Did he truly come here to die?' He turned back as he heard Bickslow call his name yet again and continued to walk into the forest.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Natsu frowned as he continued down the cave. He sensed something now, something he had not sensed earlier. It positively oozed evil, pain, anger, and pure misery. It was almost like it was trying to slap him in the face with its emotions. He did not like what he was feeling. It promised death to all it met. And he could feel that they were getting closer to it.

He stopped running and called out to the others, who stopped at hearing his voice behind them. They turned to look at him and started to approach.

"I need you all to leave this cave." He started

"I knew it!" Levy shouted. "All you want is to beat us."

Natsu shook his head in disappointment. "That is not at all what I want. I feel something bad up ahead. Something horrible. I can tell that it wants to kill."

"You think we'll just believe-"

"Shut up!"

They all turned to look at Gajeel. "Don't you dare talk to him like that! He has saved the lives of Dragon Slayers for who knows how long. He may not care if you insult him, but I will not stand it. He fought tooth and nail to get humanity and Dragon Slayers to where they are now. There is no way a person like that would be so petty as to try to trick us into letting him win! Just think about it. Why would a man who would rather fight his enemies than betray someone try to trick his friends?"

They all stared at Gajeel for several long seconds, contemplating his words. 'Gajeel, you fool. You shouldn't go yelling at the one you are trying to get as a mate. Seems Metalicana was right; you are still a child at heart. You cannot stand to see those you respect insulted, even if they find it below them to listen to insults.'

"Gajeel, stop." They all looked back to him, but he had eyes only for Gajeel. He stared into his eyes, trying to pass on a message. Eventually Natsu knew that Gajeel understood, for he looked to the side, scowled, and crossed his arms. "As for you Levy, do you truly think of me like that? I merely want to ensure none of you are hurt if it comes down to a fight. As for why I want you to leave the cave altogether, I have a feeling we are no longer alone on this island."

They all stared at him in shock. He was not sure if the shock was him asking them to leave or his statement of not being alone. Either way, he did not have the time to spare figuring it out. The sensation was getting stronger and none of the others appeared to feel it.

It was surprisingly Mest who spoke out. "What do you mean we aren't alone on the island?"

"First, it is only a feeling. I never said that there were actually others here. Second, the explosion earlier. Something about it has been bothering me. It could not have been Elfman or Freed. There was too much fire, and not enough dust for their magic. Same goes for Bickslow. His dolls produce beams of energy. They do not form fire of any sort. What we saw was an actual explosion, not beams of energy. It was also too far away to be Evergreen, as she went with Elfman toward the other end of the island. They might have been able to get there in time if they turned around immediately, but they had no reason to do so. We waited until they were out of hearing range, even for a Dragon Slayer, so they could not have heard us talking about tracking the Master, and even if they did, not one piece of our conversation would have led them there. That leaves no one there who can cause that explosion. Not of our group, at least. That is why I believe there are outsiders on the island."

Natsu let them mull over his words for a couple of seconds before saying, "Now, if you do not mind, I want you all to check the explosion site. I will investigate the source of malicious intent I felt earlier."

They stared for several seconds before walking past him, heading towards the cave exit. He turned and watched them leave, not trusting to let them out of his sight until he felt they had left the danger zone. He continued to look for several moments after they left his line of sight before he closed his eyes and went about sensing their magic energies. Sure enough, they were walking out of the cave and into the forest. 'Good. They won't get hurt. If they had stayed, we all might have died here. After all, even I cannot fight such a strong foe while protecting them.'

"I had not expected to find anyone else in this cave. Oh well. I suppose that it does not matter. I will deal with you as I have dealt with Makarov."

Natsu turned to look at the man who had just spoken. He could not see much, due to the fact that the man was still in the shadows, but he could see that the man was wearing a black cloak similar to his own, and he had white hair and a long white beard.

"Whatever you did to gramps, I doubt you could do to me."

"Oh. You think you could stand up to me? Even Makarov, one of the Ten Wizard Saints, could not hurt me. How will you?"

"I think you are underestimating me. But before we fight, I want you to know one thing. Whatever you did to gramps, I WILL pay you back a hundred times over."

The man in the shadows began to laugh. He even doubled over, holding his stomach. After about a minute, the man started crying too. Several second later, he suddenly straightened up. "You, brat? Pay me back a hundred times over? I don't sense even half of what I sensed from Makarov coming from you. How will you pay me back at all, let alone a hundred times over?" Preparing to fight, the man started gathering his magic energy.

Upon seeing how much energy the man had, he concluded he would indeed need to release his seal. With a flick of his wrist, a glowing red dragons head showed above them both before it shattered into pieces.

"What was that, boy? Answer me!"

Nothing overly worrying, like poison gas. It was just the release of my seal."

The man chuckled. "Really? What seal would that be? The one on your intelligence? No amount of restricted energy will let you beat my infinite stores of it."

Natsu sighed. He was starting to get a headache from all the rambling this old man did. It was time to fight, but he kept talking. 'I guess I will have to throw the first punch. If I don't, we'll be here all day.'

Natsu began to gather his energy, also preparing to fight like the man. It was not long before the man's face contorted. He took a step back and raised an arm to cover his face from the massive amount of energy. When Natsu was certain the man was shocked at his energy levels, he began to draw it back in slightly. After all, there was no need to keep all of his energy at the forefront. That would only serve to exhaust him in the fight. Natsu began to raise his head, not noticing he had lowered to concentrate. The man backed up another step.

"Your eyes! What the hell happened to them?"

Natsu stared blankly for several moments, not knowing what the man meant. It wasn't until several seconds later that he noticed a red orange reflection in the man's eyes.

"Oh. You mean that. It happens when I gather this much energy. Looks like fire, doesn't it?"

"I don't care what it looks like! You're only a brat! Don't think just because you surpassed Gildarts means you can beat me. I was old before you were born."

"I highly doubt that."

The remark seemed to enrage the man. He drew upon his energy reserves and used magic on several pointless looking things, like pebbles. He was confused. 'Why would he waste his energy? In a fight with someone like me, that is dangerous.' He then noticed the pebbles began to float, strange forms starting to appear around them. When they were finished forming, he was facing a small army's worth of beasts, all made of magic. "Do each of them have their own source of energy, or do they all draw form you?"

"They all have their own separate sources, but I fail to see how that matters to a dead man. Prepare to die!"

The monster began to charge, but as they were bearing down upon him, he could not help but to smile. 'I may have to learn this spell. Maybe than I will finally have good sparring partners.'


	7. Saving Summer

**I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters.**

**Thanks to all who review. They are appreciated.**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_(Last time)_

_The monsters began to charge, but as they were bearing down upon him, he could not help but to smile. 'I may have to learn this spell. Maybe than I will finally have good sparring partners.'_

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

He could not believe his eyes. How had a single man taken out so many of his magic beasts? Hades backed away from the boy with glowing eyes.

"What the hell are you? No human could have done that."

The boy straightened up from his crouch. He brushed off his cloak and looked around. He stared at one of the holes in the wall for several seconds before Hades got angry.

"Don't ignore me, brat! When an elder is speaking to you, you're supposed to listen."

The boy looked back at him before responding. "How many times must I tell you, 'I doubt you are older than me'? It is beginning to get annoying. As for your question, I am a Dragon Slayer."

"Dragon Slayer is just a term for magic users with certain magic. It doesn't mean you should be strong enough to kill all of those beasts. They were each as strong as one of the Ten Wizard Saints."

"They had enough magic energy to be compared to the Ten Wizard Saints, but don't say they are as strong as the Wizard Saints. That would be an insult. The Wizard Saints have earned their power, and as such, they know how to use it. These beasts that you created were given power they didn't know how to control. That is why they lost."

Hades considered that statement. 'That actually makes sense, which makes less sense. When I did my research on Fairy Tail, I was led to believe he was as stupid as a nail. Has he been pretending to be stupid, and weak? No, no one could pretend for eight years to be stupid and not slip up, especially not if they started when they were a child. What is going on here?'

"You are smarter than I thought, but no matter. I will still kill you. In a way, I'm almost sorry to have to do it. You would be a fine specimen to observe."

"Sorry, I don't participate in experiments, especially when I'm the experiment."

Hades noticed a black shadow approaching from behind the boy. He smiled once he realized what the shadow was. It suddenly burst past the boy, landing next to Hades, revealing Kain.

"I expect you got what you need, right Kain?"

"Correct, Master Hades."

"Good. Do it."

The boy stepped forward, raising an arm a little bit. "I don't know what you're talking about, but don't think I will let you do it so easily."

Hades' smile grew wider. "I don't think you will have a choice. Kain?"

Kain raised his arm, showing a doll in his hand, with a pink hair sticking out of the doll. The boy's eyes widened. 'Is it because he knows what will happen now? Considering the intelligence he has shown so far, I would not be surprised at that.'

Kain moved the arms on the doll and the boy moved just as the doll did. Hades stepped forward, stopping a foot or two from Natsu.

"You have impressed me with your knowledge and power. What is your name?"

"It's Natsu Dragneel."

"You seem very calm, all things considered."

"I don't really have options at the moment, so yeah. Whatever you plan on doing, I can't stop it as long as he has that doll."

Hades looked closer at Natsu. His scars showed experience fighting, and his body was rather fit as well. 'This boy is experienced. I can hardly believe he has never been offered a spot as a Wizard Saint. I don't know why that is, but one thing is certain; this child is a monster. No normal human should get so strong without traveling further down the path of magic. Makarov, I have no idea where you found this boy, but you raised him true.'

"It is good to see you know your place at the current moment." And with that said, Hades thrust his arm into Natsu's chest. When the boy did not fall off his arm, Hades was not surprised. When the boy's glare deepened, he was not surprised. The boy's eyes almost seemed to say a message. Hades was surprised when Natsu spoke though.

"If you… hurt… Fairy Tail… you will have to… to face my… rage."

"Brave words, for a dead man."

Hades grabbed Natsu's head and pushed it back, sliding him off of his arm. After the boy hit the ground, Hades stared at him for several seconds. "Kain, keep that hair for a little bit longer."

"M-master?"

Hades turned back and stared at Kain. A few moments later, he turned back. He started walking down the cave, back to the ship, flicking his arm to get Natsu's blood off of his arm. 'He spoke, even after I pierced his chest, around where his lungs are. Natsu Dragneel, huh? You are determined to do things your own way, even if your way is impossible. Let's see what you can do at death's door.'

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Gajeel stared at the man in the barrier. "The hell are you?"

The man replied without opening his eyes. "I am Azuma."

Gajeel crouched down to look at the man's face. He was starting to piss Gajeel off. 'At least I found who caused the explosion. Seems Natsu was right.'

Gajeel turned his head, staring in the direction he came from. 'Speaking of Natsu, what is he doing? I haven't felt his energy in quite a while. It's not like him to completely hide his energy. No way would that guy be hiding from what he says he felt in the cave. Hiding isn't his style.'

Gajeel stood back up and faced Mest and Levy. He stared at them for several moments, and they stared right back, confused looks on their faces.

"Where the hell is shorty?"

They both looked down between them. They stared at the empty space before jumping back and releasing cries of surprise.

"Where's Wendy?" Levy shrieked

"I don't know!" Mest screamed

"Shut up" Gajeel yelled, hitting Mest on the back of the head.

Mest turned to face Gajeel. "Why'd you hit me?"

"Because you're yelling!"

"But why didn't you hit her? She was yelling too!" Mest yelled, pointing to Levy.

At first, Levy looked confused. After several seconds, her face turned devious. "Oh Gajeel, you still can't hit a lady, can you?"

"Shut up! I've hit lots of women."

The clearing was silent for a few minutes before Azuma spoke up. "That's nothing to go claiming. It's rather shameful, actually."

Gajeel whirled around to face the man. "Silence, you. I'll hurt you too, if you keep talking."

"You're rather violent, aren't you?"

Gajeel turned back to face the others, ignoring Azuma. He was startled when he realized Mest was gone.

"Where the hell did he go?" he yelled at Levy.

"He said he was going to go find Wendy."

Gajeel looked to the sky and yelled as loud as he could. 'God damn women! One goes off to who knows where, and the other lets someone else go off to find her. And that's after Salamander told us we need to stay together. Are they stupid?' He thought, not realizing he himself did such things many times.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Wendy was running as fast as she could toward the cave she left Natsu in. She had a bad feeling about his energy disappearing. Eventually, she came to the path that led to the entrance to the cave. Just as she was about to go in, she saw a person emerging. The shape of the person was unfamiliar, and remembering Natsu's words about not being alone on the island, she hid behind a tree. The man who left the cave was no one she knew. He was tall and fat, wearing a cape and no shirt, with brown pants.

'Looks like Natsu was right; we aren't alone here. The question now is; should I follow him or check on Natsu. Considering he is leaving the cave alone, I'll go with check on Natsu.'

When the man was out of sight, Wendy sprinted into the cave. As she was nearing where she left Natsu, she began to smell the scent of blood. Her heart racing, she ran faster. She ran around a bend and straight into something solid. She bounced off the object and fell on her butt. As she was rubbing her head, she heard a kind, quiet voice.

"I'm sorry. Are you hurt?"

She looked up to see a man standing over her, wearing black clothing with a white cloth wrapped around him, going over one shoulder. He bent down and stuck out a hand, offering it to her. She took the hand, wondering who the man was.

"No, it's I who should be apologizing. I ran into you."

"It is quite alright. I'm fine. You seem to be the one who got hurt."

"If you don't mind my asking, who are you?"

The man laughed, raising a hand to cover his eyes. When he put it down, he had a smile on his face.

"There is no need to be so formal with me. In fact, most scream and yell at me. However, at the moment, my name is not what matters. Do you know a healer?"

Wendy looked up at the man and blinked. It took her several seconds to remember that he didn't actually know her. His kindness had made her forget that fact. "I'm a healer. Why do you ask?"

In response, the man turned his body and pointed down further down the cave. She gasped as she saw the blood on the floor. Tears sprung to her eyes as she saw Natsu lying face down in the middle of the pool of blood. She felt a gentle push on her back and turned to look at the man.

"Go. He needs your help."

Wendy turned back to face the gruesome scene. She gulped before she ran forward. When she reached Natsu, she gripped his shoulders and turned him over. She gasped once more when she was the hole in his chest. Her right hand flew up to his neck. After several long moments, she finally found his pulse. 'It's very weak. If I had come even a minute later, he might have died.' She looked up to see if the man would help her, but he was gone. She was dumbfounded at that. 'Even with my enhanced hearing, I didn't hear his footsteps. Come to think of it, unless he was standing around that bend, he must have been walking. I didn't hear him then, either. I wonder who he is.'

Wendy looked back down at Natsu and narrowed her eyes. "You will survive this, Natsu. You hear me? I won't let you die here." She said, tears running down her face at the thought of a world without him. She had never told anyone, especially not before she met the dragons again, after all, she had looked twelve, but even after, when she used her magic to look older, she still didn't dare to say it, but she cared more deeply for Natsu than a friend would. She also knew that Lisanna, Erza, and Mira cared for him like that too. They had all secretly confessed to her, for reasons she did not know.

Wendy ferociously shook her head. Her thoughts were wondering. If Natsu was to survive, she needed to focus. And so, with tears running down her face, hands hovering over the hole in Natsu's chest, she set to work saving his life.


	8. The beginning of the counterattack

**I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters.**

**Thanks to all those who review. They are all appreciated.**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_(Last time)_

_Wendy ferociously shook her head. Her thoughts were wondering. If Natsu was to survive, she needed to focus. And so, with tears running down her face, hands hovering over the hole in Natsu's chest, she set to work saving his life._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Wendy sat back against the wall of the cave. She was covered in sweat and could not stop shaking, but she was happy none the less. She had worked for over a half hour. It was easily the most difficult healing she had done, but it had worked. She tried to raise a hand to wipe her forehead, but to her surprise, she was unable to get her arm past chest height. She sighed, knowing that sweat would be stinging her eyes for a little while.

She looked back over to Natsu. He looked peaceful, lying there with a blank expression. It was hard to believe that someone so peaceful was strong enough to kill dragons. She jumped a little when he began to sniff the air. He opened one eye and started to look around. When he spotted her, he opened his other eye. Several seconds passed before Wendy spoke.

"How do you feel? Does your chest hurt?"

"I feel as if a hole was put in my chest, but otherwise, I'm doing well."

"I suppose that question was a little stupid, huh?"

Natsu shook his head, flipping over and putting an arm under himself. Wendy watched as he pushed himself up and eventually sat against the wall of the cave next to her. She blushed at the proximity. She could feel his skin on hers in several places, the heat coming from his body startling her for a second until she remembered he was a fire Dragon Slayer. Natsu's voice shocked her from her thoughts and fantasies.

"Not at all. You are a healer, and you just finished healing me. I was on the verge of death. Questions like that are to be expected in situations like this."

As he was speaking, he put his hand on Wendy's knee. Her blush became more prominent at the action. 'I may just be delusional, but that's making me feel good.' It took her several seconds to realize she was not imagining it. Her aches were soothing, her shaking became less noticeable over time, until it stopped all together. Even the ravenous hunger she felt was disappearing. Her energy stores were back to around half full too. She looked down at Natsu's hand, feeling the energy coming from it.

"Are you sure you should be doing that? You did almost die, after all. You have to be low on energy."

He took his hand off her knee. For several second she was disappointed, angry at having said something. She missed his warmth and the energy that came with the hand. She was ripped from her disappointment when the hand was put on her head. She stared in shock at the floor in front of her. As he started rubbing her head, he began to give her even more energy.

"It's fine. Even almost dead, my reserves are nothing to laugh at. I can go without this energy."

That being said, he took the hand off her head and put it on the wall above. He used the arm to help himself stand up, which shocked her. She had not thought he could stand. She was quick to follow him up. When he tried to walk away, she could not stay quiet.

"Where do you think you're going? You shouldn't be standing, let alone walking. And knowing you, you're planning on fighting. I won't allow you to go if that's all you have planned."

Natsu turned around to look her in the eyes. "I'm going to find the men that did this to me. They are both extremely dangerous, but for the moment, they are separate. I have to move while I still can, or the others may die."

Wendy looked down at the floor. She could not stand to let Natsu fight in his condition, yet he was one of the strongest fighters available, and she didn't want her other friends to die, which made her dilemma all the more confusing. Natsu had been taken down by two men, and for all she knew, they were now hunting down the others. 'If he goes, he might die, but if he doesn't, the others most certainly will die.'

She looked up to see Natsu staring down at her expectantly. She realized, rather embarrassingly, that he must have asked her something, but she had not heard.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked if you knew where a shirtless man, wearing a cape went."

"Oh, uh… he went out of the cave in the direction of the forest. I saw him as he was leaving. He should still be on the path."

Natsu nodded. He put a hand on his chin, looking deep in thought. After several moments, he spoke.

"That means the other man must have gone to the coast. They are both dangerous in their own rights, but at the moment, it seems only one is actively searching for other Fairy Tail members. I'll go and take him down first. I need you to go further down the cave. When I met the first man, he said he dealt with gramps. Do what you can for him, then take him and find the others."

She nodded, and turned away from him. Just as he was about to round the bend, she turned and called out to him.

"Good luck. Come back alive."

She faintly heard his reply. "You too."

With that out of the way, she turned back to the direction the master should be. She nodded to herself and began to run. Seeing what happened to Natsu, she prepared herself for a gruesome scene and heavy use of her powers.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Gajeel and Levy stared at the man in front of them. He was an odd one. With his odd poetry, his ridiculous hair, and his attitude, this man was definitely annoying. He had just finished another of his terrible poems and was now adjusting his glasses.

"Well, fairies, are we going to dual?" He asked, using wide, flamboyant hand motions.

Levy looked over at Gajeel. She could see his eyebrow twitching. It was understandable, she supposed. He had interrupted their first kiss before it could happen, and now he was asking for a fight.

"Do you want to, or can I?" She asked.

Gajeel looked to her, looked back at the man, and charged. "Well I guess that settles that."

She turned her back to the fight, walking to a tree so that she could sit down. When she settled against the tree, she realized something odd. The tree was much further out into the clearing than any other tree. She didn't remember any tree being out so far. Before she could get up to see if a different view would help her memory, one of the branches wrapped around her throat. Her arms shot up to the branch, trying to rip it off, succeeding after several worrisome seconds. As she sat forward, holding her throat and gasping for air, she heard a voice.

"You were getting a little too comfortable around me, so I decided to let you know I'm still dangerous."

She turned her head to see Azuma, still the barrier, eyes still closed.

"But how? The barrier stops magic from being used while you're inside it."

"Take a better look, girl. It says, 'magic that requires movement is nullified'. In other words, so long as my spells don't use movement, they work."

Levy cursed to herself. How had she overlooked something like that? Almost all forms of magic had some spells that didn't require movement. She had read the barrier requirements, and still she had relaxed around him. 'It's my fault, I suppose. I didn't realize that the barrier, while keeping him in and nullifying some parts of his magic, did not nullify it altogether.' She yelped as one of the larger branches of the tree whipped down towards her. She rolled to the right, trying to get away from the tree.

When she thought she was a safe distance away from the tree, she let out a sigh of relief, only to hear a terrible noise. She looked up to see the roots of the tree ripping out of the ground. When they were all out, the smaller ones began to twirl around four of the thicker ones, forming four thicker roots. The branches began to crack and shatter, attempting to join like the roots did, but they lacked the moisture of the roots to be as successful as them. Eventually, they formed eight slightly thick branches. Overall, it stood well over twelve feet, more than doubling her height.

She looked around for Gajeel, only to find him gone, having chased the other man. 'Good. I have room to work with.' She reached for her magic, but stopped when she remembered Gajeel's words; "For now, use your Solid Script Magic. The longer we keep your Dragon Slayer Magic a secret, the bigger of an advantage we have." Knowing he was right, she raised her hand, shouting, "Solid Script, Fire."

The word fire appeared, right on the tree. The tree caught fire almost immediately, but to Levy's disappointment, the fire did not catch, and burned out almost instantaneously. She heard laughing and turned to see it coming from Azuma.

"Did you seriously think a trick like that would work on my tree? If the fire was hotter, maybe, but I doubt you have control over that."

Irked by his words and upset at her failure to burn the tree, Levy began to think. After several moment, her plan was formed. She jumped to the left to avoid a blow from the tree and raised her arm.

"Hotter, huh? I think I can oblige. Solid Script, Twister."

At her command, a magic twister appeared around the huge tree. Azuma laughed again.

"How is that supposed to be hotter than-"

"Solid Script, Fire" Levy shouted, interrupting him. The word did not appear on the tree, but instead in the whirling column of air. The word was torn apart, spreading out among the twister.

"I will admit, that fiery twister is hot, but not enough sti-"

Levy interrupted again, shouting out, "Solid Script, Fire"

The word appeared once more inside the column of air, spreading out among it, making the fiery column hotter. Levy did not think it was enough to burn the tree though, so she continued shouting "Solid Script, Fire" until she was certain the whirling inferno would impress even Natsu. When she thought it was ready, she held up her right hand, spread out. When the tree tried to swing at her through the flames, she clenched her hand into a fist. The fiery column of whirling air rapidly shrunk in on itself, and in turn, the tree. When it touched the tree, it quickly caught fire. Inside the inferno, it was only a matter of seconds before it was ashes.

Upon vanquishing the tree, Levy relinquished her hold on her magic. She collapsed on the ground, sweat covering her body. She looked over at Azuma to see him staring at her with one eye open.

"I must admit, your ability to come up with solutions to abnormal situations is impressive. I do not often say praise to my enemies, but congratulations, girl." With that said, he closed his eye, resuming his vigil.

Levy looked around to see Gajeel coming back into the clearing with the strange man over his shoulder. Gajeel stopped and looked around, observing the clearing.

"I thought I heard a fire over here. I was hoping to cook some food with it. Oh well.

Levy laughed. She was covered in sweat, exhausted, and he had just fought an enemy, but still, food dominated his thoughts. When she was finished, she looked over to him, and saw that he was staring at her strangely.

"What's so funny, shrimp?"

Levy shook her head. He would never understand. Instead, she pointed to the barrier Azuma was in.

"I can't make it bigger, but I can rewrite it. If you put him in there and give me a description of his magic, I can nullify it."

Gajeel grunted and walked over to the barrier, tossing in Rustyrose. As he sat down and got comfortable, he began to describe what he had learned. Levy listened with rapt attention. No detail got past her and she asked several questions. When Gajeel was done, she began to rewrite the wording on the barrier, making changes for the new guest and some changes for what she learned about the first occupant.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Natsu stopped walking and sniffed the air. He could not be sure if he was following the right scent, for he had never gotten the chance to sniff the man who immobilized him, but he had gone to the entrance to the cave and could only smell two fresh smell. One was Wendy's, so unless the man he was trying to find had no scent, he should be on the right track.

Once he had found where the scent he was following went, he set off after it once more. 'This man either has no sense of direction, or is not paying attention to where he is going.' Natsu thought, as he once again went in a giant circle following the scent. It had gotten to the point where, whenever he passed a certain tree, he stuck out a finger and increased his body temperature as he drug it across the tree, leaving a mark. The count was currently eight marks. Natsu stuck out his hand, ready to put a ninth mark on the tree as he passed, but stopped when he heard a noise.

Natsu crouched, pressing himself against the tree. He crept along it to look on the other side. He sweat dropped when he saw Kain, sitting at a fire, eating an animal he had killed and cooked. 'How did I not smell him deviating from the path? And, also…. Is he stupid? He's sitting in the middle on enemy ground, eating an animal that, for all he knows, could be poisonous. Oh well. It doesn't really matter. I still have to deal with him.'

Natsu stepped around the tree, taking off his blood soaked cloak as he did so. As he approached, he noticed the man looking around for something. 'Considering the amount of grease on that food, he's probably looking for something to wipe his face on.'

When Natsu was directly behind the man, he offered the cloak.

"Here, you can wipe your face on this."

Kain looked at him for a split second before he looked at the cloak. He took the offered cloak, arranging it so that the spots of blood would not touch his face. When he was done, he offered the cloak back, loudly saying, "Why thank you, kind sir. I appreciate it."

Natsu grimaced. How had he not noticed a man this loud sneaking up on him? This would surely ruin his reputation among the Dragon Slayers.

"You don't have to thank me." He replied, sitting down next to the man. As he reached out for the food, he asked, "May I? I'm famished."

"Why, certainly, kind sir!" Kain yelled. Natsu grimaced again. As he leaned forward, ripping what he assumed was a finger off of the massive corpse, he asked, "Would you mind keeping your voice down? My ears are rather sensitive."

"Of course." Kain said, nodding.

Natsu took a massive bite of the food. 'It's rather good actually. I'm surprised this oaf can cook' He thought, noticing that Kain was staring at his face.

"This food is rather good. I'm surprised you can make something this good when you don't know what the meat is."

Kain blushed a little, rubbing the back of his head, laughing a bit. "Thanks. I, myself, was not sure how it would turn out. Now, if you don't mind my rudeness" Kain stated, leaning forward and peering at Natsu's face "can I ask who you are? You seem awfully familiar to me."

Natsu nodded at that. "Of course you can ask. I don't mind when people are rude to me. I'm the fellow from the cave."

Natsu took another bite of the food, making sure to keep Kain in his sight. Kain leaned back, patting his stomach and laughing.

"Oh, of course." He yelled. "The man in… t-the c-c-cave…."

Natsu saw his eyes go wide, and his jaw go slack. Kain reached for the pouch where he kept his dolls and hair samples. Natsu had to admit, the guy was fast. Just not fast enough. When his hand was halfway there, Natsu stopped it by grabbing it.

"Now look at this. You had to go and ruin a peaceful moment." Natsu stated, turning to stare at him and taking another bite of meat.

"How…. How are you alive" Kain asked, staring at Natsu, fear in his eyes.

"I'm alive because I have better friends than you do."

Kain's eyes narrowed. He lashed out with his other hand, trying to hit Natsu. Natsu stared at the approaching hand, waiting until it was almost upon him until he slapped it away.

Natsu, keeping a tight grip on the hand by the pouch, grabbed Kain by the throat with his other hand.

"I hope you don't mind," He said, seeing Kain's eyes widen at his crushing grip. "but you see, due to blood loss, I'm rather irritable at the moment. You also happen to be the single largest threat at the moment. Due to these facts, I am going to do something I don't usually do. I'm going to kill you now."

Kain's eyes widened further, and his struggles increased, but Natsu's hold was so strong that he could not move an inch. Natsu also noticed that Kain's face was turning red, due to lack of oxygen. He watched Kain's futile struggle for several moments before deciding enough was enough. 'It is cruel to make your prey suffer before death.'

Thinking along those lines, Natsu increased the heat in his fingers and hands. He could feel, almost instantly, that Kain's skin was bubbling. Natsu jerked his hand, forcing it through Kain's throat. Once he was certain Kain was dead, he turned back to the camp, looking for water. When he found it, he took a few sips, then poured the rest onto his hand, clearing it of blood. With that done, he went back to his cloak and dried his hand on it.

Natsu looked around the camp, taking in everything. He would have to bury Kain's body, as well as put out the fire, before he left. He decided to just eat the fire. Once that was done, he looked around the camp once more. He saw a bag that must have belonged to Kain. Next to it was a shovel. Taking it up, he began to dig a grave. Due to his strength and speed, the task was done rather quickly. After he was finished patting down the soil, he set out to find sticks to mark the grave.

Once he had found them, he bound them together with twine in Kain's bag. On the stick going horizontally, he engraved into it, rather simply, 'Kain'.

"I don't know whether 'Kain' is your first name or last, but it will have to do." Natsu said

As he was about to leave, he grabbed Kain's bag, and another clawed finger off the cooked beast. Ready to leave the clearing, he felt a sudden cold. He turned back to the grave to see a ten foot tall being in a cloak standing over it, a massive, wicked scythe in hand. The being seemed to be staring down into the grave, right at Kain's body.

"Reaper" Natsu called. The being slowly lifted its head to look at him. Natsu, for the first time in a long time, felt genuinely cold. The cold stretched right down to the very center of his being. Natsu fought the urge to run and instead stood his ground.

"Tell Lady Death that if she treats him wrongly, she will have me to deal with." The being nodded it massive head slowly, and raised the arm holding the scythe straight into the air. It held it there for several seconds before dropping it. The scythe fell fast, going through the ground as if it wasn't there. It pulled the scythe back out, resting the blade near its head, across its shoulder. It stayed for several seconds, staring at Natsu with its head tilted, before it began to disappear. It appeared as if the body turned to shadow, then raced into the sky, dispersing until it wasn't visible.

Natsu turned away from the grave. He closed his eyes, searching for energy sources on the island. When he found all sources he could, he focused on the one closest to him. It was not a familiar one. He set off through the forest, eating the food he grabbed as he went.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**Don't worry, Natsu won't be some kind of murderer. I don't plan on it happening purposely a lot, but magic is dangerous, so it might happen a lot accidentally **


	9. The Dragon and God meet

**I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters.**

**Thanks to all those who review. They are all deeply appreciated.**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_(Last time)_

_Natsu turned away from the grave. He closed his eyes, searching for energy sources on the island. When he found all sources he could, he focused on the one closest to him, which was not a familiar one. He set off through the forest, eating the food he grabbed as he went._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Hades sat aboard his ship, eyes closed and observing the energy signals on the island to try and keep track of what was happening. He was currently paying attention to the girl who was attempting to heal Makarov. 'It appears that Makarov is responding to the healing. That may be a problem. If he gets up, he will go to help the others… Wait… the others. Did the girl help the boy?' Hades turned his attention a little further down the cave to see if he could sense any energy. When he failed to sense energy other than the islands natural energy, he settled a little further back into his chair.

'In a way, I am disappointed that the boy is dead.' Hades thought, not knowing that Wendy healed Natsu before he began to watch them. 'I had such high hopes for him. Then again, it is rather difficult to survive having a hand shoved in your chest.'

Hades turned his attention to a clearing a little ways away from the cave, making sure he kept a tab on Makarov. He noticed Azuma sitting and slowly channeling energy into the ground, with a boy and girl from Fairy Tail watching him. He was about to get angry that Azuma was messing around, but stopped when he noticed there was magic surrounding him. 'A barrier? I'm surprised he fell for something like that.'

Hades felt somewhat relieved when he noticed Rustyrose making his way toward Azuma. He heaved a deep sigh when Rustyrose stopped. 'I swear, if he's spewing that ridiculous poetry, I'll beat him senseless. I keep telling him not to do that when enemies are nearby, but he continually ignores me.'

Hades face palmed as the boy rushed forward, punching Rustyrose in the face, sending him flying through the trees. 'That's why I tell him not to recite his poetry. He may like it, but it distracts from the battle. At least this may finally get him to listen to me.'

Hades finally noticed that Azuma's energy finally emerged from the ground. When it finished forming, it appeared to be a tree. Hades was slightly impressed when the girl managed to break free from the tree. His curiosity was piqued when she reached for her magic. She instinctively reached for one type of magic, only to stop and use a much weaker type of magic. 'She is either confident she can beat Azuma's tree with her secondary magic, or she is trying to hide her primary magic. I will need to keep a close eye on her.'

Hades watched the fight with rapt attention, waiting to see if the girl would slip up. When she destroyed the tree without doing so, Hades frowned, realizing he had forgotten to keep track of Makarov. When he widened his focus, his jaw dropped. The boy was walking back into the clearing, Rustyrose thrown over his shoulder. Hades turned his attention to the forest where the two 'fought'. He was surprised when he sensed that only a straight line of trees had been destroyed. He looked closer at the boy, realizing something was familiar with his energy.

'His energy closely resembles Natsu's. While I don't sense the well of energy that I did from Natsu, if this boy is anything like him, I suppose that first punch could have seriously injured him, especially since the idiot was reciting his poetry and was caught off guard. After all, Natsu did manage to punch holes in solid rock and put craters in the ground.'

Hades rubbed his jaw, imagining how much a punch like that would hurt. At that moment, he felt sorrier for Rustyrose than angry at him. He felt a sudden, massive burst of energy on the other side of the island. When he focused upon it, he was surprised to find the energy was extremely familiar.

'How is he alive? I though he died in the cave. The girl healing Makarov must have done it. No one else on this island is an actual healer. I didn't sense him, even when I was searching the island to find all energy sources. He must have tight control over his magic to be able to avoid detection. Why is he releasing so much energy though?'

It took Hades several seconds to realize that Natsu wasn't alone. Kain was also there, being held by Natsu, his energy so small comparably that he was hard to notice. Hades watched as Natsu funneled energy into his fingers and hand before snapping his wrist to the side. Hades frowned as he realized that possibly the only thing on the island that could stop Natsu was just killed by him.

He turned his attention to the one of the other things that might be able to stop Natsu; Bluenote. With his gravity magic, it was possible that he might be able to forcibly keep Natsu on the ground while they came up with a plan to finish him. His frown deepened as he realized that Bluenote was in a clearing, facing Gildarts.

'Oh, crap. Even if Bluenote does defeat Gildarts, he will be too weak to be able to pin down Natsu. And I'm too far away to even think about helping. At this range, all my long range attack have a high possibility of hitting Bluenote instead. Looks like I will have to go toe to toe with him, for real this time. I'm not looking forward to that. He may be injured, but from what I just saw from him, he is not to be underestimated.'

Hades paid closer attention to the fight Bluenote was in. He saw that, from the energy level, as well as the pattern of the energy, he was using his Black Hole, but as Gildarts neared it, he disassembled it with his Crash Magic. Before Bluenote could recover from his strongest spell being destroyed, Gildarts gathered his energy into one hand and hit Bluenote, sending him spiraling high into the sky.

Hades sighed once more. IF this situation could be fixed, it would take a lot of energy, which he was not particularly upset about. What he was upset about was the fact that the people he had trained for years had been defeated, some easily, others putting up a fight, but he still felt as if he had wasted all of those years. Hades stood from his chair, preparing to settle things on the island. Just as he was about to leave the room he was in, he felt a sudden cold. He realized it was not actually on the ship, but on the island. Having kept his senses open, he had felt some energy source on the island, one that could only be described as cold.

Hades rubbed his arms, closing his eyes once more to inspect this energy source. Just as he was beginning to focus upon it, he felt something change. It felt as if the being that the energy was coming from was looking at him, staring into his soul, reading his deepest secrets. Hades recoiled, feeling extremely cold. He was quick to cut off his observation of the energies on the island.

'It doesn't matter if I can't sense Makarov like this. With that thing here, it will be well worth it not to feel that again.'

Opening his eyes, Hades realized that he had started to lean against the frame of the door. He used his shoulder to push off the frame, only to find that his legs had gotten weak. Sighing, Hades turned back to return to his chair.

'That _thing _has bought you and your precious children some time, but not a lot, Makarov.'

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Natsu stopped his trek through the woods. The scent of the person he was following went straight to a cliff. Natsu walked forward once more, placing his feet at the edge. Natsu leaned over the cliff, looking down at the drop. For how small the island was, having a cliff like this was rather impressive. He had not thought this island would have a cliff that stood over two thousand feet. Just as he was about to step away, he heard a noise from behind him. Reacting off instinct, he leapt to the right, only to realize in the as he was jumping that there was little room on the cliff edge.

He quickly inspected the rocks at the edge, looking for a sturdy one that could hold his weight. Choosing a mid-sized one, he prayed it would not collapse. He put his right hand on the rock, using it to propel himself further along the cliff, to a point where he could actually land on. As he landed, he bent his knees to absorb the impact, effectively crouching. He sat, crouched, facing the direction that he came from. The noise had been made by a man who had charged forward to attempt to strike him.

The man turned to stare at him, a grin on his face. He chuckled a bit, looking happy that Natsu had gotten away.

"You got excellent reflexes. Looks like a picked good prey." The man said, chuckling more at his words. Natsu raised an eyebrow, frowning. The man saw the frown and heaved a huge sigh, slumping his shoulders, head going down. Just as his long hair settled down over his face, he lifted his head back up.

"What's wrong? Don't want to fight? I'm surprised you're being like this after how you did in Kain."

As Natsu was standing from his crouch he said, "My name is Natsu. Thanks for asking…"

The man stood, hunched over, his head forward and tilted, a confused look upon his face. It took several seconds, but eventually, he got it. "Oh, right, where are my manners? The name's Zancrow. I'm a Fire God Slayer."

Natsu laughed a little at that. He stopped when he saw the insulted, angry look on Zancrow's face. Before Zancrow could speak, Natsu decided to answer the question that was undoubtedly coming. "I'm laughing at the irony of the situation. You, the fire God Slayer, challenged me, the fire Dragon Slayer, to a fight. The world truly does love to have its moments, doesn't it?"

Zancrow, now understanding, smiled and laughed a little. "Yeah, I guess it does. I never really stopped to think about it. Now, can we fight, or are we going to sit here talking like old women?"

Natsu smiled, charging to his left, into the woods. He could hear Zancrow following him, calling him a coward, but he didn't care. He slowed, allowing Zancrow to close in on him. After about a minute, when Zancrow was close enough, he stopped running and turned around, bringing his fist up into his pursuers face. The blow sent Zancrow flying into a tree, but its thick trunk didn't break. Zancrow fell to the ground, but he was quickly on his feet, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, smiling as he did so.

"Looks like you aren't holding back, Dragon Slayer. Already got that seal off?"

Natsu was surprised. He had assumed that no one on the island, other than the Dragon Slayers, and Gildarts, knew about that. Natsu frowned. It made even less sense for this God Slayer to attack him if he had known about the seal.

"Being a God Slayer, I take it you know about the treaty between your kind and mine?" Natsu asked

Zancrow laughed, spreading his legs and raising his arms, assuming a fighting stance. "Yeah. If a Dragon Slayer attacks a God Slayer, or the other way around, only that person is to be killed by the ones they attacked. A good policy, used to keep both of our kind alive. It prevents all of us from being responsible for the actions of a single individual, and makes a war between us near impossible because of it."

Natsu's frown deepened. 'He clearly understands, yet he still smiles. Why?'

"You do realize that even if you beat me here, Zancrow, attacking me gives any and all Dragon Slayers permission to kill you?"

Zancrow laughed like a mad man, cackling at the top of his lungs. "I already said that I understand the treaty, moron. Stop asking about it, fool." Zancrow yelled, a small black seal appearing before him. Upon finishing speaking, the seal began to crack, until it finally exploded into nonexistence.

Natsu and Zancrow both charged at each other, fists raised and covered in flame.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Makarov sat up, aided by Wendy. Once he was in a comfortable position, he began to look around. At seeing the cave, he remember the fight he had with Hades. He looked over at Wendy who sat staring at him.

"Why are you staring? It's impolite."

"Sorry, Master, but I'm waiting for your instructions."

Makarov looked at the girl, a frown appearing on his face. "What do you mean by 'instructions'?"

Wendy sat up a little straighter, puffing out her cheeks before blowing out air. "We are going to get them back, are we not? So what are your instructions?"

Makarov stared in amazement at Wendy. 'Just three months ago, she would be too scared to fight. Now she's asking for a plan to carry out. You sure have changed, little one.'

"First, we need to regroup. I need everyone to go back to the camp. Once everyone is there, we can assess our injuries and come up with a plan."

Wendy stood up, raising and arm in the air.

"Don't worry!" she shouted "I'll get us there."

Makarov nodded his head, waiting for her to help him up. After several seconds, he looked around, only to see her running away. His jaw dropped and his eyes bulged.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Makarov shrieked.

Wendy stopped and turned around. After several seconds, she laughed and rubbed the back of her head. "I was just, uh…. testing you." She said

"Don't lie to me!" Makarov yelled.

Wendy laughed once more, slowly walking towards him. When she reached him, she bent over to offer him a hand. Makarov raised his hand, but before their hands made contact, he felt two massive bursts of energy. He froze on the spot, eyes wide and heart racing, staring at Wendy's face, seeing a similar face to the one he was making.

'What is this?' Makarov thought. 'Are gods fighting on the island? No, that cannot be.' But as much as Makarov thought, he could not figure out what other beings could possibly have so much energy. He looked off in the direction of the energy sources, both moving rapidly. Soon, he felt the island shaking from the blows the two were sharing.

Makarov then noticed that one of the energies was familiar, but much larger than it should be.

'If it is Natsu, he will either save us all, or accidentally kill us and destroy the island.'

"Have some faith, Master."

Makarov looked to the side, to see Wendy smiling at him, eyes closed. "After all," she continued, "he's never let us down before."


	10. The lead up

**Sorry for the delay. I had some urgent business pop up a few states away, and I kinda needed to deal with it fast. I just got back today, so I'm rushing out a chapter and plan to have another out hopefully by Sunday. I wish circumstances were different, but no one can change the past.**

**Still don't own Fairy Tail or its characters. As always, reviews are welcome and appreciated.**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_(Last time)_

"_Have some faith, Master."_

_Makarov looked to the side, to see Wendy smiling at him, eyes closed. "After all," she continued, "he's never let us down before."_

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Erza, Lisanna, and Mirajane were sitting around the inside of the tent, talking to each other and placing bets on which group would find the grave first. Being so deep into conversation, they failed to realize that there were several controlled bursts of energy all over the island, indicating heavy fighting. They did begin to realize something was amiss however, when the ground began to shudder. They looked around, curious, before belatedly realizing they would not see much from inside the large tent. They moved to the outside of the tent, Lisanna tripping twice due to the unexpected shudders which seemed to be getting more violent.

Upon reaching the center of the clearing, they all began to look in different directions. None of them said anything as they didn't see any signs of what could be causing the violent reactions from the ground. After several seconds, Mirajane spotted a large cloud of dust and debris.

"Erza, look there."

Lisanna, and Erza both moved to stand next to Mira so as to get a better view. After several seconds, when the cloud was beginning to settle below the tops of the trees, Erza spoke.

"I have no doubt that, that is a fight, but who is fighting? I don't recall anyone going in that direction, and even if two groups did end up in the same place, this trial doesn't involve fighting."

"Somehow, I have no doubt that Natsu is involved." Mira stated, sweat dropping. The other two opened their mouths to object, but sweat dropped too when they realized that she was probably right. Natsu was the cause of most fights back at the guild, and given that he seemed stronger now, they could definitely see him 'testing himself' against the others.

Erza thought for several more seconds before stating what they had all realized at that point.

"The energy does feel largely similar to Natsu's, but it is too big to be his."

"Unless the training he did in the last three months really helped him that much." Mira countered

"Either way, whoever it is, they are fighting an opponent of strength that is very similar… and also, they're heading our way."

The girls stood in the center of the clearing, watching the clouds gradually get closer and closer. The last words that Erza had spoken did not fully sink in until several seconds later, upon which they all began to get nervous.

"Do you think that they will actually pass through here?" Lisanna asked, wondering if they should move. The other two girls ignored her for several moments, which did not ease her anxiety. Eventually though, almost too late, Mirajane wiped around and scooped up Lisanna, jumping to the trees where there clearing and the dense woods met, Erza a half-second behind her. Just as they landed, two blurs slammed into the clearing, shattering the ground and causing an eruption of dust to fly out. Lisanna covered her eyes, trying to keep out the sudden burst of particles. Before the dust could settle though, she saw an orange and red glow come from the cloud.

Erza and Mirajane were now both raptly paying attention, having turned to watch, while staying crouched, ready to jump away if need be. A sudden, violent shock within the cloud of dust caused it to immediately disperse, revealing a Natsu, both hands engulfed in flames, pounding away at a strange, shirtless teen, who began to laugh after allowing himself to be hit for three times. When the fourth punch was on its way, he lit up both of his hands with eerie black flames, which were in stark contrast to Natsu's flames. After he had lit up his hands, the mysterious teen slammed his fist into Natsu's oncoming one.

Given that both combatants put all they could into their punch, a powerful shockwave was generated as a result, and they were both sent skidding in opposite directions of the clearing. The force of the colliding punches had fractured the ground even more, some cracks going past the edge of the clearing and several feel into the woods. The mysterious teen recovered first, rushing forward to attack Natsu, who had recovered fractions of a second after Zancrow. The two met in almost the same spot as last time, once more slamming their fists together in an attempt to overpower the other. The shock this time was more violent than before, ripping up the hard earth and forcing sections of the ground to rise above where it stood normally, while other sections sunk down below its natural point.

The ground under where Natsu was standing happened to sink down, while the section Zancrow was on rose up above. Natsu decided to use the brief period of time where Zancrow was adjusting his balance to hit him in the stomach, sending him flying once more, Natsu charging after him immediately.

Lisanna blinked, hardly able to comprehend what had happened. The portion of the fight that they had witnessed had lasted only about two seconds, and to her, it was mostly a blur. She looked out at the destruction of the clearing, her eye noticing movement. She looked slightly to the right to see the 'skeleton' of the tent falling slowly, three legs horribly crooked, with one leg valiantly trying to hold up the rest, but alas, it fell after only moments. When it hit the ground, Lisanna blinked, just realizing that she never noticed the canvas of the tent flying away.

"I told you we should have secured it better." Lisanna heard Mira say. She looked to the left to see Erza glaring at Mira.

"As if that would have helped. They destroyed the ground. If it doesn't have a flat, stable base, it is pointless. And they shattered the 'base' that we put the tent on." Erza retorted, crossing her arms across her chest. Several long moments later, Erza spoke back up.

"I, for one, want to go. They could come back at any second."

Lisanna looked over, staring at Erza with a confused expression. When Mira saw the look, she decided to elaborate.

"They destroyed the clearing, which is about fifty feet across, Lisanna. And that was without any big or complex magic. It looked like Natsu was using 'Fire Dragon's Iron Fist', which is one of his most basic and least destructive spells. The next time they come back, we may not get so lucky. With the level of energy that they have, something like 'Fire Dragon's Roar' could be devastating. Staying here is a bad idea."

Lisanna nodded, now understanding. Her thoughts turned to the others.

"We need to find the other guild members. They could accidentally get caught up in the fight. Or, even worse, they might have gotten caught up in it already."

Erza nodded, turning to Mira. "You stay with your sister and look for the others away from the path of destruction. I'll go up the path to see if anyone is injured, and if no one is, I will come back and follow them to help any who might accidentally get too-" Erza stopped speaking when she heard loud footsteps coming toward them at a fast pace. Mira moved Lisanna behind her, Erza moving to be closest to the sound. Within seconds, Gajeel burst into the clearing, stumbling over one of the bits that stood up from the rest of the ground. He looked over at the three of them, opening his mouth to speak, but Erza beat him to it.

"What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here to see that fight. It has been a long time since I have seen Natsu fighting so seriously. I don't want to miss it once they reach the ocean."

Erza frowned, looking over at Mira, who looked at her and shrugged. Erza looked back at Gajeel, asking

"The ocean?"

"You kidding? Natsu wouldn't fight at full strength with us so close, and the other guy also has guild members of his own on this island. Both are fighting seriously, but neither of them have even begun to get fired up. Once they reach the ocean, they will have an almost unlimited amount of room to deck it out without having to worry about collateral damage."

Erza stopped and thought for several seconds. 'What he just told us has several worrying parts. First and foremost is that they are even truly fighting yet. The next problem would be that the man fighting Natsu has other guild members here. We could be ambushed at any moment.'

Erza nodded, having made partial plans. "Alright, for now, no one but S-class mages go anywhere alone. Mira, I need you and Lisanna to go find Gildarts, wherever he is…" Erza trailed off, seeing a man go flying high into the sky. "Start over there." She said, pointing to the direction that the came from. "We'll need him just in case any of Natsu's fight threatens to spill over onto the island when he isn't paying attention. After you send him to the east shore, where Natsu and the other man were heading, I need you to go find the other contestants. Tell them that we have been breached. Enemies are on the island. Also tell them to stay with their partner at the very least, and that if they run into other groups, to stick together unless circumstances force them to split. Tell every group you meet to move to the west shore, away from Natsu's fight. We still don't know how bad the destruction could be, and they will probably stick close to the shore, so all precautions to stay safe are welcome. Tell everyone everything you know, just in case they stumble across the Master."

They all nodded, turning to leave. They all stopped when Gajeel let out a screech. When they turned back, they saw Gajeel staring where he came from, eyes bugging from his head and his jaw hanging open. He grabbed his head with both hands, looking up at the sky to yell at the top of his lungs.

"Shriiiimp! Damn it! How could I let myself lose sight of her? Zyaful will kill me!"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

(Five minutes earlier)

Gildarts was making his trek through the woods, heading toward an energy source he felt earlier. He paused, leaning against a tree. He stood there for several seconds, catching his breath. He pulled out a canteen from the inside of his cloak, taking a deep swallow of the water inside.

'This forest will be the death of me. I hate hot places. Why did we come here during the summer?' he thought, wiping the back of his right hand across his mouth. He looked down, screwing the cap back onto the canteen. Just as he was about to finish screwing the cap into place, he heard a scream. He snapped his head up at hearing it, immediately spreading his senses out. He cursed when he sensed the energy he was heading toward nearby two energies that he was familiar with.

He began to run as fast as he could, but halfway there, he stopped, bending at the waist to grab his knees. Panting, unable to breath due to a dry mouth, he took out his canteen once more. He reached for the cap, but upon touching the lip, he came to the realization that it wasn't on. Shaking the bottle, he cursed once more when he tipped it upside down, with nothing coming out. Thinking back, he realized that he never did fully put the cap on the canteen. Sighing deeply, he put the canteen back, hoping one of the people he was going to meet would have water.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Lucy groaned, getting crushed under the weight of Bluenote's spell. Suddenly, she heard a rustle in the bushes and a second later, she looked up at the same time Cana did to see Bluenote's face smashed into the ground, courtesy of Gildarts, who was crouching on Bluenote's back. Cana and Lucy stood up, staring at Gildarts, who was still on Bluenote's back after almost half a minute. Lucy leaned over to Cana, putting a hand up to keep Gildarts from seeing her mouth.

"I know he's your dad, and the guild ace and all, but is he… stable? Mentally, I mean?"

Cana sweat dropped, forcing out a tiny laugh. "I don't kno-"

Cana stopped talking as Gildarts suddenly slammed into her, hugging her at the waist, moaning. Cana lifted her right arm as fast as possible, inevitably bringing it down on top of Gildarts' head. He let go off her waist, hitting the ground, his butt in the air. Once on the ground, Gildarts continued to moan.

"Seriously, is he ok?"

"Not now, Lucy. Gildarts, what the hell?"

Gildarts slowly raised his head, still moaning. Once his head was up, the girls got an unexpected sight. Gildarts' lips and mouth were so dry, he had cracks all over his lips, some of which were bleeding, due to being so dry. He moaned once more.

"What? I mean, thanks for the rescue, Gildarts, but why did you try to tackle me?"

Gildarts slowly lifted his right arm, trembling as it went. The girls followed its painfully slow progress, but eventually, it stopped at the jug of alcohol at Cana's waist. They immediately understood, after having seen his mouth. Cana unhooked the jug from her belt, holding it out to Gildarts. He took it and finished it off in two gulps. After he was done, he turned on his knees to face Lucy, at the same time, handing Cana back her jug. Lucy unhooked her canteen, but before she gave it to him, she spoke.

"I still need this for later. Do you understand that?"

Gildarts vigorously shook his head up and down. Lucy sighed, extending her arm. Gildarts greedily snatched it from her hand, taking one giant gulp before handing it back to Lucy.

"Alright, now I'm ready to take this guy down." Gildarts said in a hoarse voice, spinning on his knees to face Bluenote, getting on his feet as he spun. He waited for Bluenote to be standing before he began to walk toward him. After three steps, he tilted his head to the right, a canteen flying past, right into Bluenote's face. Gildarts turned to look at Lucy, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't look at me like I did something wrong. You drank all of my water, even after I said I needed it for later." Lucy said, voice trailing off at the end as she finally realized where her canteen had hit. Gildarts turned back to see a black look upon Bluenote's face. He was visibly shaking from his anger.

"You will pay for that, girl."

"Did you miss the part where I'm between you and her?" Gildarts asked "I'd be a poor examiner if I let you hurt my examinees."

"Yeah" Lucy and Cana said, simultaneously, in the background.

"After all, it is MY job to hurt them. Seriously, I'm getting paid for this."

In the background, Cana and Lucy were sweat dropping, wondering why the Master was paying the examiners to hurt them.


	11. The dragon and god fight

**I don't own Fairy Tail or its characters.**

**All reviews are welcome and appreciated.**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_(Last time)_

_In the background, Cana and Lucy were sweat dropping, wondering why the Master was paying the examiners to hurt them._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Gajeel was backtracking through the woods, following his scent. He had hoped that Levy was smart enough to follow his scent after she lost sight of him. That would make his life so much easier, if he didn't have to backtrack to where he last remembered seeing her. He had gone about a fourth of the way across the island already in his quest to find her, and had yet to come across anything. He stopped when he caught a whiff of her scent. He was quick to follow, knowing the longer he was away from her, the worse his punishment from Zyaful would be.

He came across her sitting on a fallen tree in a heavily wooded part of the island. He was about to speak to her, but stopped when he noticed she was sleeping. He thought back to her training, remembering that the physical part came hard to her, even if the magic part was easy. She had run all over the island, trying her best to keep up with him. He frowned, realizing he had been hard on her. He went over to her, careful not to step on twigs, so as to make no noise. As he reached her, a faint boom shattered the air. He turned toward the noise, then berated himself when he realized that he was in the middle of a forest. He gently picked her up, checking that she had not woken. He turned to the direction the fight was in and set off at a run, keeping his strides as smooth as possible, which for a Dragon Slayer, which were supposed to be useful in any situation, was very smooth. He slowed to a jog whenever she stirred, but sped up again after she settled.

As he neared the beach, his thoughts turned toward observing the fight. He could feel his blood boiling. Taking deep breathes, he attempted to calm himself. He looked around, seeing a cave and walked to it. He found a relatively smooth patch of ground and set Levy on it. When he thought she was comfortable, he went to the mouth of the cave, eager for the fight. After all, it had been over three hundred years since a member of the Council of Dragons had fought without restraint. The last time that had happened, the second largest known mountain range was reduced to rubble.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Mirajane and Lisanna walked into a clearing in the woods and stopped, noticing what they were looking for. Gildarts was laying on a rock, bent over it on his back, his stomach sticking into the air.

"That looks uncomfortable" Lisanna said

"Indeed" Mira replied. "Let's wake him up, shall we?"

Mira walked up to Gildarts, a small smile on her face. She raised her heeled foot in the air, her smile turning to an evil grin. With as much force as she could, she slammed her heel into Gildarts' hand. She was disappointed when his only reaction was to stir slightly, rolling off of the rock. After three more attempts at kicking him, Gildarts finally opened his eyes, seeing Lisanna and Mira standing above him. He stared for a second, eyes half lidded, before chuckling.

"Ooh, so it's one of those dreams, is it?"

Mira glared down at him while Lisanna pondered his words, her innocence saving her from his thoughts.

"What does he mean by, 'one of those dreams', Mira?"

Mira ignored her sister, instead reaching down to grab Gildarts collar, lifting the taller man to her eye level. When she smacked him across the face, he opened an eye half way, still tired. His sleepiness fled as soon as the look on Mirajane's face registered in his mind.

"That is a very good question, Lisanna." Mira asked, eerily quiet. "What did you mean by, 'one of those dreams', Gildarts?"

"I-i-I, don't know what y-you mean, M-Mira."

"That's very good, Gildarts, because I know for a fact that no one had thought about my sister like that, right, Gildarts?"

"Of course. I mean, ever since she was little, I always saw Natsu as a son of sorts. And given his relationship with Lisanna, I always thought of her as hisss" Gildarts said, trailing off at the end, afraid due to the fact that Mira's smile had grown psychotic and she was now releasing a sizeable portion of energy, partially shifting into her demon form. Her talons were digging into his throat uncomfortably. He gulped and continued on.

"B-but, you know, Natsu has always been a clumsy fool, so I guess that she really is more your responsibility."

"Good." Mira said quietly. Gildarts was trembling slightly, fearing Mirajane in her current state. Every member of Fairy Tail got loud when they were angry, but some of the members, once they got truly angry, stopped being loud and instead grew more quiet the angrier they got. 'Come to think of it, it seems that only our S-class wizards and those who could be S-class are the ones who get quiet when they are truly angry. The only exception to that is the Master, but he is one of the Ten Wizard Saints'

Their moment in the woods was interrupted when two massive energy sources were felt, followed shortly by a violent shockwave forcing its way across the island, ripping trees out of the ground every now and then.

"What was that?" Gildarts shouted, shocked

"Oh yeah. That's actually why I came here. You're needed over there to keep any of that from overflowing onto the island."

"Tell me that next time!" Gildarts yelled, ripping himself from Mirajane's grip and running off in the direction the shockwave came from.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The water of the ocean that was surrounding him was extremely violent and hot, to the point that it was boiling. The water was so hot in fact, that steam was available in massive quantities, making it hard to see Zancrow. But for all the rage of the boiling ocean, for all the steam, making it hard to use his senses, Natsu could not help but smile, knowing that Zancrow would be ready for the fight to truly start as well. And just as the ocean was boiling from the heat of their combined flames, Natsu's blood was boiling too. It had been so long since he had been in a fight like this. Even a person like Erza would not have been able to move after his 'warmup', but Zancrow not only took Natsu's hits, he laughed as he took them, dealing his own as well.

Natsu looked to his left, knowing that Zancrow was there due to his energy. When Natsu was certain he was lined up with Zancrow, he took a deep breath, made slightly harder because of the steam, and built up some energy in his lungs.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Flame God's Bellow!"

It did not take long for Natsu to realize that in long range, he was inferior to Zancrow, as his spell required him to stay relatively still and maintain his flow of energy to his spell, whereas Zancrow only had to release a single massive burst of flame and was then able to move about freely. Natsu ended his spell and was quick to jump out of the way of Zancrow's. Realizing that he was currently at a disadvantage, Natsu located his enemy again and ran towards him.

"Flame God's Scythe."

Natsu saw only a brief flash of black before deciding to jump. He soared above Zancrow, releasing a quick burst of "Fire Dragon's Roar" as he sailed by. He wasn't surprised when Zancrow merely ate the flames, burping when he was done. When Natsu touched down, he was quick to close the distance between them, setting his fists aflame. He saw the flaming scythe arc towards him once more, but this time he decided to punch it down into the ground, running on it towards his opponent. When he was close enough to see Zancrow, he lit his foot on fire, bringing it down on Zancrow's head, slamming him into the ground. Zancrow was quick to jump up and retaliate with an attack.

"Flame God's Cloud!" he shouted, waving his arm at Natsu, his black flames billowing out. Natsu cut his link to his magic to eat Zancrow's flame.

"Ha, as expected of someone like you. To eat the flames of a god so easily when none other could."

"Do not try me, bastard. I know plenty of dragons that could eat these flames."

"Hmm, whatever. I couldn't care less." Zancrow charged forward, throwing a punch that Natsu met with one of his own.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

On the shore, Gildarts, Ur, Mira, Erza, and the Master were watching the fight from a large rock sticking out over the ocean, Lisanna having left to go stay with the others.

"Those damn monsters. Do they even realize what they are doing?" Makarov said

"I doubt it. If this other man is anything like Natsu, neither of them realize the extent of the damage." Ur replied, watching as Natsu's fist met his opponent's. Ground beneath them shattered, having dried up from the heat of their attacks and their bodies. They all watched as the cracks stretched all the way to the island, splitting some of the cliff they were standing above.

They all watched as Natsu dodged another 'Flame God's Bellow'. Gildarts stepped forward, readying his magic. As soon as the flames were in range, he destroyed them using his magic. He stepped back, falling down to one knee.

"That was a lot harder than I thought it would be."

"I told you it would be tough." Erza said, wearing her adamantine armor, which had several cracks in it. "Their attacks are almost on level with a Jupiter Cannon, yet unlike a Jupiter Cannon, they don't take fifteen minutes to recharge. In fact, they are attacking almost immediately, in quick succession."

"As I said before, they are monsters." Makarov said, watching the fight continue, the combatants stopping for nothing. He looked up to the sky to see large clouds forming very quickly. "That can't be good. On top of all this, we are about to face a storm too."

"It would actually be because of this that the storm is forming."

They all turned to see Mest walking towards them, covered in scrapes and clothes torn.

"Care to explain." Mira asked

"Certainly. Their body temperatures and the heat of their attacks is evaporating the water, leaving large quantities of moisture in the air. When moisture meets cold air and warm at, it can speed up the creation of clouds. The air up there probably isn't all that cold, given how hot it was before they began to fight, but the heat they are creating is more than making up for lack of cold up there."

They thought about it for a few moments, but all of them were forced to admit that they didn't know much about how the weather worked. They would just have to take Mest's word. They were jerked back to the fight when flames passed by them. Makarov stepped forward, knowing it was his turn to intercept the attack. It would be a long fight for them.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Zeref looked to the sky, chucking at the sounds of destruction. The noises brought back plenty of memories. He stood up from his spot, preparing to go and watch the fight. He had been previously napping on one of the roots of the Tenrou tree, so he was taking his time stretching. After all, being immortal does not mean he would be in shape for the duration of his immortality. He didn't want to suffer any permanent injuries. As he began walking he heard a faint voice behind him. He turned to see Ultear staring at him, Meredy resting across her stomach.

"I am terribly sorry, but I didn't hear what you said. Would you be so kind as to repeat it?"

With a visible effort, Ultear took a breath before opening her mouth. "H-How? I thought y-your power was sealed away."

Zeref laughed lightly at her words. "Please. Your jokes are too funny. My power was sealed away, but within three weeks, I knew how to take the seal off. Another two weeks later and I knew how to put it back in place. The dragons think they're so smart, but they had a rather simple seal on me. Those 'keys' you mentioned were my attempt to keep fools like you and your guild away from me."

"But if you knew how to remove the seal, why did you not keep it off?"

"Because I made a promise. I love to fight, and I found another whose power might one day rival my own. When this man made a promise to kill me, I knew he was serious. And also, my immortality is tied in with the seal. So, in order for this man to keep his promise to me, I kept the immortality, knowing it would weaken me while it was active, but would also allow him the time he needed."

And with that, Zeref walked off into the woods, heading toward the fight, leaving behind the rest of the Kin of Purgatory and their other guild mates. After several minutes, he came across two women who were traveling through the woods together. He noticed that upon one of the women's hand was the mark of Fairy Tail. As he observed them for a few seconds, he noticed that the girl he had first seen the guild mark on had a small pouch at her waist, which appeared to be holding several keys.

'Could she be a Celestial mage?' Zeref thought, pulling a Celestial Spirit key out of a pocket. 'Oh well, worth a shot.'

With that, Zeref pulled back his arm and wiped it forward, the key flying through the air and hitting the blond on the head. He watched as she looked around. Eventually, she looked down at the ground to see if she could find what had hit her. He watched as she bent down and picked up the key, holding it up and inspecting it. He turned away from the two women who were looking at the key and continued on toward the fight.

/\/\/\/\/\

**Sorry that it took longer than some of you were expecting and sorry that it isn't longer, but I kept falling asleep writing this chapter and I did promise to try to put one up today**


End file.
